Tan Khim Ser is a noted artist and art educator. A graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, he went on to become a proponent of Chinese calligraphy and ink paintings whose work has been included in the private and public collections of museums around the world. In 1972, he founded the Life Art Society to promote a love for arts, teaching generations of casual and aspiring artists throughout the decades at various grassroots organisations and clubs.

Born in 1943 in Singapore, Tan Khim Ser possessed a love for art since he was a young boy, regularly using the floor as his canvas. Wanting Tan to obtain a Chinese education, his father enrolled him in Zhang De Primary School and then Chung Cheng High School, where Tan joined the art club and excelled in Art as an academic subject.

Seeing that Tan had a deep interest in art, Tan’s father let him enrol in the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts where he received formal art education in Eastern and Western traditions. With his early Chinese education influencing his artistic leanings, he would eventually choose to focus his efforts on Chinese ink painting and calligraphy.

Graduating in 1966, Tan started working as a personnel manager in a department store to support himself financially, spending his evenings and weekends practising and teaching art. Wanting to make a contribution to art in Singapore, he founded the Life Art Society in 1972, serving as its president. Five years later, he resigned from his job to become a full-time artist and to devote his time to the society.

For Tan, founding the Life Art Society would become his most enriching decision, as this allowed him to pursue his passion for art wholeheartedly and share his love and knowledge of art with other people.

With the Society, he organised countless arts events and exhibitions, showcasing work from himself, his students, and from members of the public. The Life Art Society focussed its efforts on young people’s art in its beginning years, and, together with the Ministry of Culture, organised the first ever open-air art exhibition featuring art works from primary and secondary school students. The Society also worked with other organisations, including regularly partnering with SMRT to create Chinese calligraphy keepsakes for its Chinese New Year events. Tan and his students would hold Chinese calligraphy demonstrations at these events, giving away their finished Chinese New Year couplets to thousands of people. Tan would also regularly hold fundraising activities with the Society, benefitting institutions such as his alma mater, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

Besides the activities he organised with the Life Art Society, Tan also taught Chinese ink painting and calligraphy frequently to casual and aspiring artists in the Life Art Society premises, as well as in community clubs including the Tanglin Club, Singapore Swimming Club, Singapore Island Country Club, and in various community centres around Singapore. Over the decades, he taught countless students, including former CEO of National Arts Council Lee Suan Hiang, former Senior Minister S. Jayakumar, and Minister Grace Fu. Tan also wrote columns on art and Chinese ink painting for Chinese daily Sin Chew Jit Poh in the ’70s.

With Tan at the helm, the Life Art Society was instrumental in spreading interest in Chinese ink painting and calligraphy in Singapore and Southeast Asia during the ’70s and ’80s.

At the same time, Tan’s reputation as an artist also continued to grow, with Tan holding participating in many solo and group exhibitions. His bold and quick brush strokes, in addition to his novel way of combining colours, came to appreciated and sought after by galleries and collectors worldwide. His lively and energetic depictions of nature were exhibited in the Louvre Museum in Paris, the National Museum of Seoul and the Guangzhou Art Museum.

Outside of the Life Art Society, Tan also contributed his expertise and knowledge to several organisations, including serving as an advisor to the Miao Hua Chinese Art Society and as a committee member of The Society of Chinese Artists and the Singapore Arts Federation.

Tan has received recognition for championing and promoting art to the Singapore community, receiving the Service Award from The Society of Chinese Artists in 1985 and the Education Award from the Kuo Chuan Art Club in 1990.

Tan continues to be an active painter and teacher, regularly giving classes, workshops and live art demonstrations. A committed philanthropist, he is also known for donating his works to various charities for fundraising ventures.