The Malaysian art scene recently suffered a great loss when Tew Nai Tong passed away on May 4th. The late artist’s works have been an inspiration to many artists who came after him.
Nai Tong died from an aggravated lung infection at the age of 77 and this is a great loss to the industry who in recent years have been in need of a revamp and a revisit to the old school of artists and their own unique signatures.
Nai Tong is a graduate of the prestigious Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore where he is widely regarded as one of the last members of the Nanyang Style ‘Matinee Heroes’.
Anyone who has seen any of Nai Tong’s paintings would agree that this is a man who has his own way of art.
His first solo show was in Kuala Lumpur back in 1964 and since then, he has fine-tuned his strokes and created a persona for him and his passion. Today, artists no longer paint their passion with their own trademark techniques. They simply follow others and improve on them.
Truly, Nai Tong is one of the few Malaysian artists who have changed the landscape of Malaysian art. He will surely be remembered and his works, forever enshrined in the hearts of all who loved our culture and art.