Thomas Yeo


Thomas Yeo is a Singaporean artist. A 1984 Cultural Medallion recipient, Yeo has been an artist for almost 60 years since his first solo exhibition at the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in 1960.

Personal life

Yeo is born to an optician father and housewife mother, and has 12 siblings. One of his brothers is former Cabinet minister Yeo Cheow Tong who served in the Cabinet from 1990 to 2006.
He is married to Margaret and has no children.

Career

He enrolled in Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts from 1958-1960 and studied under pioneer painters such as Georgette Chen and Cheong Soo Pieng. From 1960 to 1964, he trained at the Chelsea School of Art and the Hammersmith College of Art & Architecture in London where he held his first overseas solo show at the Cathay Gallery in 1963. He returned to Singapore in 1967 hoping to find greater support for his work.
From 1973 to 1977, he held solo exhibitions in Singapore and Australia.
In 1983, he won second prize in the UOB Painting of the Year competition in Singapore which recognises top talent in the region.
In 1984, he received the Cultural Medallion from the National Arts Council, Singapore, an honour recognising individual artistic contributions to the country's arts and cultural landscape.