When poetry melds with calligraphy

HE may not be a household name, but Fan Chang Tien not only painted with the best of the Nanyang artists, he was also a strong influence on the later generation of Chinese ink artists.

Fan was a contemporary of Chen Wen Hsi, Liu Kang, Cheong Soo Pieng and Georgette Chen, but never quite became as well known as they did, says art curator and gallerist Iola Liu. That was because Fan hardly sold his paintings commercially, choosing to donate most of them to charity. So his works rarely come up in art auctions or other art markets. He also had one patron who collected most of his works.

"Because he came from a wealthy background, he didn't have to sell his works for a living," explains Ms Liu. But he was passionate about painti…