Fan Chang Tien (1907-1987) was a prominent first-generation artist and educator, and an instrumental figure in Singapore’s Chinese ink painting tradition. His paintings, which cover Chinese literati subjects like bamboo, orchid, plum blossoms, birds, and landscape, often feature self-composed poems that explore the symbolic meanings of flora and fauna to reflect on aesthetics, ideals and emotions.

Large Bamboo and Rock embodies the refined, scholarly tradition of Chinese painting, where brushwork is not only a technical exercise but a direct reflection of the artist’s inner state. The work demonstrates Fan’s expressive brushwork, rhythm, and calligraphic elegance.

In Chinese literati painting, bamboo and rock are charged with symbolic meanings. The bamboo is considered a symbol of the gentleman-scholar (君子): upright, flexible, hollow-hearted, and resilient. It is often associated with integrity, humility, and inner cultivation. The rock represents permanence, strength and endurance, its presence signifies a solid and stabilising force against the swaying bamboo. Together, bamboo and rock express the ideal of yin and yang, motion and stillness, resilience and steadfastness.

The Chinese calligraphy by Fan inscribed on the left reads:

Study the micro to see what the macro holds,
Among a thousand stems I pick one as night unfolds.
Pondering how to separate the grain from the chaff indeed,
And boldly choosing honesty while discarding every greed. 

[A loose translation in English]

Compositional Breakdown