Lee Man Fong was born in Canton, China. At three years old, his family emigrated to Singapore. In 1932, he uprooted once again, this time to Indonesia, to become a commercial artist. He became a full time artist in 1940, and in 1949, he was awarded a grant by the Dutch government for a three year art scholarship in The Netherlands. Upon his return, he was noticed by then President Sukarno, a powerful and influential arts patron, and was appointed as the curator to the presidential collection. Lee drew inspiration from Balinese subjects and he did a series of large paintings depicting various activities in Bali’s daily life which are remarkable. After the fall of Sukarno, Fong retreated into private life until his death in 1988.
