Low Kway Sung

Place: Singapore

Born: 1889

Death: 1982

Biography:

Low Kway Song (1889-1982) was a pioneering artist who painted portraits of many prominent personalities in Singapore and Malaysia. He became the first artist to be paid for his work in Singapore. Low Kway Song was a self-taught artist who became a member of the Singapore Amateur Drawing Association. He made portraits of Sun Yat-sen, Malaysia’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman, business tycoon Aw Boon Haw, and Peranakans such as Tan Bee Kim. Low Kway Song was also a publisher and ran the Empire Studio in Orchard Road. He was reputed to have been the first local artist to use oil paints in his work.