singapore art museum

30 x 30 inches.  Acrylic and sequins on canvas.  Artist: Simon Lim

 

Close up of details (sequins and brush strokes) in my painting. 

The National Museum of Singapore, originally known as the Raffles Library and Museum moved into to its current Stamford Road site in 1887.  I love the Neo-Palladian (inspired by the classical temples of the Ancient Greeks and Romans) and Renaissance style of the building. In particular, I was impressed by the restoration and redevelopment of the building, which gave it a neat facelift for modernity, yet did not compromise its historical charm.  I can still recall how as a 13-year old boy, my first trip to the museum was to view a visiting exhibition of unique artworks by Swiss painter, Paul Klee.  Now, as a grown Singaporean man, I appreciate that our museum has expanded so much to showcase even more world-class works like “Voom Portraits” by Robert Wilson. I thought his extremely slow motion video portraits of celebrities Brad Pitt and Dita Von Teese were absolutely hypnotic!   In the Singapore Living Galleries section of the museum, I was drawn to the display of intricately sequined Chinese opera costumes and accessories .  If you have not as yet visited the museum, you should.  You will be mesmerised by the place and wide variety of exhibits.