2025 Poster Session

This project began with the National Art Gallery of Singapore (NGS) planning an exhibition featuring one of Singapore’s pioneer artists, Cheong Soo Pieng. Held in 2024, the exhibition is unique as it reveals the techniques and materials used by Cheong Soo Pieng, and highlights the collaborative efforts of the Curator from the National Gallery of Singapore, Conservator and Scientist from the Heritage Conservation Centre (HCC), an institution of the National Heritage Board (NHB). Microscopic images and mock ups used in the investigation were displayed alongside with the artwork.

Cheong Soo Pieng, who was born and trained in Chinese and Western art in China, developed an artistic style that blends classical Chinese and Western modern art together. Arriving in Singapore in 1946, during its time as a British colony, he gained recognition as an accomplished oil painter. Despite his prominence,  little is known about Cheong’s choice of materials as he hardly granted interviews. Adding to the enigma surrounding his artwork, the materials available to Singapore artists in the post war era of the mid-late 20th century are scarcely documented.

Amongst the artworks studied, the identification of black ink on Cheong’s painting “Drying Salted Fish” was the most intriguing. A National Treasure in the Singapore’s National Collection, the painting is dated to 1978 and is composed of unknown inks on sized silk support. It is unclear whether Cheong used Chinese ink, western watercolour or a mixture of both. Identifying ink on paper artworks poses several analytical challenges. The ink is thinly applied onto the fibrous structure and is not separable from the fibre in sufficient quantity for analysis. Black inks are light-absorbing and do not yield a good signal with spectroscopy. The different types of inks speculated are very similar in compositions. Due to the sensitive nature and the cultural importance of the painting, a non-invasive analysis was necessary. 

Mock-ups of different types of black ink applied on silk support with starch lining were prepared. The ink selected comes from different brands of Chinese/Japanese liquid ink, Chinese/Japanese inkstick and Western watercolour. The dried mock-ups are examined using a digital microscope, revealing distinguishable visual characteristics between these three types of ink. No significant difference is observed across different brands of the same ink type. The digital microscope was also fitted onto a portable stand to examine the ink applied in different locations on the “Drying salted fish”. A comparison of the painting to the mock-ups suggests that Cheong used Chinese liquid ink, watercolour and inkstick in different areas of the artwork. This methodology can be used as a potential tool for non-destructive identification of ink on silk paintings. Further investigation and refinement of the methodology is currently underway.