Lee Man Fong, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

Lee Man Fong

Chinese artist

Date of Birth: 14-Nov-1913

Place of Birth: Jakarta, Indonesia

Date of Death: 03-Apr-1988

Profession: artist, painter

Zodiac Sign: Scorpio


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About Lee Man Fong

  • Lee Man Fong (Chinese: ???; pinyin: Liminfeng; Jyutping: lei5 man5 fung1; born November 14, 1913 – April 3, 1988) was a painter born in Guangzhou, China.
  • His father, a merchant with ten children, brought him to Singapore.
  • When his father died in 1930, Man Fong had to work hard to earn a living for his mother and siblings using his skill in painting ads and artwork.
  • However, that was not enough for him.
  • In 1932, he moved to Jakarta, Indonesia.
  • The tension between nationalist groups such as Persagi (Persatuan Ahli-ahli Gambar Indonesia, or Association of Indonesian Draughtsmans) and Indische-Holland kunstkring community stimulated him.
  • In 1942, Man Fong was jailed because of his opposition to Japanese colonialism in Indonesia.
  • After six months in jail, Takahashi Masao helped him gain freedom.
  • This Japanese officer was interested in his artistic potential. In 1946, President Sukarno heard about him when he had his solo exhibition in Jakarta.
  • Sukarno then knew that Man Fong was given a Malino scholarship from Van Mook, the Netherlands lieutenant-governor general.
  • In Europe, many of his exhibitions were successful.
  • He briefly returned to Indonesia, and went back to hold exhibitions from Den Haag to Paris.
  • In 1952 he returned to Jakarta.
  • The visit from Sukarno and Basuki Abdullah, the official palace painter at that time, encouraged him to establish Yin Hua in 1955.
  • Yin Hua was an organization of Chinese painters that had its office on Lokasari Street, Jakarta.
  • Many art exhibitions were organised by Yin Hua.
  • In 1956, Yin Hua was invited to hold exhibitions in China. The relationship between Sukarno and Man Fong improved.
  • His beautiful and perfect works matched with Sukarno's taste.
  • For him, Man Fong's art was an escape from revolutionary spirit.
  • Sukarno didn't have any particular theme preference in art.
  • Only ten percent of all his collections had a nationalist theme.
  • "A thing of beauty is a joy forever," was his remark about his taste on art.
  • Therefore, when Basuki Abdullah suggested to him to appoint Man Fong as the next presidential painter, Sukarno agreed to it without hesitance. Source: Kompas, June 1, 2001, an article by Agus Dermawan T.

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