Lee Man Fong

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.