EUGENE TAN

Director of National Gallery Singapore and Singapore Art Museum

In an interview featured on the National Gallery Singapore’s social media accounts, Eugene Tan shared that great art belongs to the public, and that the enjoyment of art is in the experience of it, not in the ownership of the actual art objects.

Tan himself is a walking example of the profound effect that access to art can have on an individual. While pursuing his economics and politics degree in London, he discovered the city’s numerous museums and galleries, and soon found himself caught up in its vibrant art scene. Much to his banker father’s disapproval, he shifted his academic focus and went on to complete a masters in post-war and contemporary art and then a PHD in art history.

Upon his return to Singapore after his studies, Tan found himself in a burgeoning art scene with few opportunities. Luckily for him, even fewer had qualifications that matched his. He started his career as the director of the Earl Lu Gallery— now the Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore—at Lasalle College of the Arts. In 2013, he began his directorship of the National Gallery and in 2019, he was appointed in a similar capacity at the Singapore Art Museum.

Today, as the man at the helm of two of Singapore’s biggest art institutions, connecting the public to great art is Tan’s favourite part of his job. His eight years at the National Gallery is notable for the high-profile partnerships he has spearheaded with some of the world’s most renowned galleries, such as Centre Pompidou and Musée d’orsay in Paris, as well as Tate Britain in London. Not only did these partnerships bring art by impressionist masters like Monet and Renoir to our sunny shores, they also opened up important dialogues, such as one about Singapore’s colonial legacy explored in the Artist and

Empire exhibition held in association with Tate Britain.