ONE of Singapore's most well known artists and Cultural Medallion recipient, Mr Teo Eng Seng, has turned his double-storey Peranakan house in Katong into an art gallery.
Mr Teo paid $800,000 for the house in Marshall Road, off East Coast Road, in 1994 and spent another $600,000 on renovations, alterations and extensions.
After a year of renovations, most of the 4,000 sq ft area has been turned into exhibition space where he plans to show artworks by local and foreign artists, especially younger ones, for free.
He has kept a small bedroom with a bathroom attached on the second level and a kitchen on the ground floor for his own use. He lives there with his wife Diana, 57, a retired nurse. Their only son, Bernard, 35, is an investment banker working in Hong Kong and China.
Mr Teo, who has made a name for himself for his thought-provoking installations and modern art pieces, said he hopes that his act would encourage more art lovers to convert their homes into galleries to promote art collecting and appreciation.
Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times' Life!
