Liu Kang

I visited Dynasty Antiques some months back. They had sold me a Li Shuji in 2013. That piece went straight to my art storage. In April this year, they called me and asked if I still had the piece and if I wanted to sell it. It was pretty incredible that they were able to track me and call me after 13 years. So that was how I came to visit their gallery, which is now at Trade hub 21.

Amidst the thousands of artworks there, I came across this calligraphy by Liu Kang. He wrote this in February 2004 and he passed away on 1 June 2004, at the age of 94. I suspect that this may well be one of his last artworks. The gallery owners were close to Liu Kang and his family and they have over the years collected and resold many of his pieces.

I immediately confirmed to them that I wanted to purchase this. I didn’t take delivery because I was still deciding where to put this. I didn’t think it should go into storage, considering it is one of the last artworks by one of Singapore’s foremost pioneer artists. I felt it needed to be seen and appreciated.

So two weeks ago, I finally found a suitable place for it. I was delivering something to an office at a new building. This office had just moved there and they have taken a 60 year lease. Their place was being done up. Having seen the place, I told them I shall be donating this piece to them and they have indicated to me that it will be in their main conference room, a place befitting his status.

So I took delivery of this piece yesterday and I sent it to its new home. Hopefully it will be seen and appreciated by many people in its new home.