Yeo Hoe Koon (1935 - )

Yeo Hoe Koon is a Singaporean artist born in Hainan, China, who has sustained a painting practice spanning more than seven decades. Widely regarded as one of Singapore's second-generation artists, he works across oil, acrylic, and Chinese ink and is recognised for his distinctive visual language that synthesises Eastern philosophy with Western abstraction.

Yeo began his formal art education at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) from 1955 to 1957. Upon graduation, he pursued further studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1959 to 1961 under the recommendation of his teachers Georgette Chen and Lai Foong Moi. During his time in Paris, he studied with Roger Chapelain-Midy and encountered leading Chinese artists such as Zao Wou-Ki and Chu Teh-Chun. Immersed in the thriving post-war Parisian art scene, in which abstraction was a dominant artistic language, Yeo developed an approach that combined the expressive possibilities of Western abstraction with concepts rooted in Chinese aesthetics and philosophy. These formative years laid the foundation for his lifelong belief that art should enrich everyday life and remain accessible to all.

Recognised across Southeast Asia and Europe, Yeo has held more than 40 solo exhibitions and participated in over 120 group exhibitions locally and internationally. His works are represented in major public, corporate, and private collections, including the Singapore Art Museum, National Art Gallery Malaysia, Penang State Museum, United Overseas Bank (UOB), and Development Bank of Singapore (DBS). Yeo was awarded the NAFA Distinguished Alumni Award in 2026 in recognition of his artistic achievements and advancing Singapore's visual art.