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About the artwork
Merchant Road was originally named “Theatre Street” in reference to the cluster of Chinese opera houses and streetside performances that were frequently organised in the area. Subsequently, when merchants began to gather and reside in the location in large numbers, it was renamed Merchant Road. Most of the buildings along the road were developed in the 1990s such as Merchant Court Hotel and Riverside Point and today, the road houses office buildings and retail spaces. This piece showcases a piece of the past that still exists in the architecture of shophouses, a contrast to the modernity of Singapore today.
About the artist
Born in 1945 in Singapore, Ong Kim Seng is an internationally renowned watercolorist and one of Singapore’s most prominent artistic icons. Self-taught and self-supported, the artist has participated in group and solo exhibitions in Singapore and in the United States, China, United Kingdom, Japan , Australia, Belgium, Germany, France, Middle East, Taiwan and Hong Kong. He has won a multitude of awards including six awards from the American Watercolor Society, and the coveted Cultural Medallion in 1999. Playing an active part in some of the most prestigious art fellowships and organizations, the artist was President of the Singapore Watercolor Society from 1991 to 2001, subsequently becoming Honorary President.