Tan Kian Por was born in 1949 in Chaozhou, China, and moved to Singapore in 1962. His distinctive paintings in Chinese brush and ink are known for their crucial and additional interacting elements of calligraphy and Chinese seal-carving. Tan received the Cultural Medallion for visual arts in 2001, and is represented in the important art collections and galleries across Hong Kong, China, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.

Growing up in Chaozhou, China, Tan Kian Por was very interested in fine arts. His earliest exposure to visual art came in the form of lianhuantu (连环图) that he encountered growing up in China. These were Chinese cartoon picture books depicting historical and fantastical stories, steeped in Chinese legends, vigilante ethics and chivalry. He would read these picture books regularly, cultivating his love for drawings.

When he moved to Singapore, Tan faced challenges learning a new language—English—as he moved from school to school. But in secondary school, under the guidance of his Chinese-language teacher who was also a calligrapher, Tan rediscovered his love of calligraphy and Chinese painting. His teacher introduced Tan to another teacher of Chinese art from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, an institution that would come to be well-known for grooming a number of artists who created a style of traditional Chinese painting that was distinctively Singaporean. This would prompt Tan to enrol in the academy, nurturing and deepening his involvement with Chinese art.

During his time at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Tan studied and practised Western art, but he soon set any Western art inclinations he had aside to focus on Chinese arts, which he regarded himself to be closer to. To cultivate a deeper understanding of Chinese arts, he, together with fellow students, started a Chinese art appreciation society and served as its chairman. These three years at the academy would be deeply influential on his art, as he immersed himself in the teachings of his mentors.

When he graduated from the academy in 1970, he gathered fellow Chinese art and calligraphy enthusiasts to form the Siaw Tao Chinese Seal-Carving, Calligraphy & Painting Society in 1971. Tan became its president, and would go on serve in this role for the next 30-odd years. For the next few years, he would make his living by spray-painting carpets and moulding fibreglass basins in factories in Jurong. But as his artistic career took off in the later half of the 1970s, he built up a solid reputation in Chinese ink and brush work, largely through his innovative use of both hyper-realist as well as abstract expressionist features.

The themes Tan worked on range from traditional flora and fauna to contemporary life among different ethnic communities in Singapore. Some of Tan’s best-known paintings are of worshippers in colourful saris and robed holy men reclining in Sikh temples. He has held solo exhibitions in Australia and Singapore, and also exhibited in Hong Kong and China. In 2001, Tan received the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to visual arts.

Tan most recently served as an advisor to the Siaw Tao Seal-Carving, Calligraphy and Painting Society. He also lectured at his alma mater, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

On 16 Aug 2019, Tan passed away in Singapore at the age of 70.