Lee Man Fong

Indonesia

1913 – 1988

Born in Guangzhou, Lee Man Fong spent his early years in Singapore before moving to Jakarta in the 1930s. He mastered both Chinese Lingnan brush painting and oil painting, becoming the first non-Dutch artist to exhibit with the Dutch East Indies Association in 1936.

A Malino scholarship took him to the Netherlands (1949–1952), where Dutch art influenced his style. He later exhibited in Paris, Amsterdam, and The Hague before returning to Indonesia. From 1955 to 1961, he led Yinhua Meishu Xiehui (Society of Chinese Artists in Indonesia) and served as a palace artist for President Sukarno for five years.

After Sukarno’s fall in 1967, Lee moved to Singapore, where he embraced the Nanyang style, blending Chinese ink painting with Western modernism. He returned to Jakarta in 1986, where he lived until his passing in 1988.