Friday 18 March 2011

Kwan Shan Mei

I bought this (somewhat) old (circa 1983) book yesterday and it comes with very lovely illustration which were credited to Kwan Shan Mei.(Updated Nov 2012: I was informed later that Mdm Kwan herself has said that it was not her work. See comments for this blog).

That started me on a search to know about this illustrator but I was not able to find much on the net except that the Mooty series of books were also by her.

I think it would be great to honour the local illustrators who has been part of our collective visual memory through textbooks, readers and storybooks. So, if you know anything about Shan Mei, please drop me a note.

I also found the following illustration by Shan Mei on flickr.
Tang poem illustr 600px

8 comments:

Hocus Focus said...

Try Moongate Collection.

Hocus Focus said...

She illustrated for the Moongate collection. I own 6 of the 13 books and the vast and beautiful techniques are truly wonderful to look at. I hope you enjoy them!

Momo said...

Yes,the Moongate Collection is beautiful. I remember reading them when I was younger but have not been very successful in locating any copies now.

koah fong said...

I just found that Kwan Shan Mei also illustrated the reading books used by Ministry of Education for Primary 1 & 2 during the 1970s to 1980s.

Momo said...

The 70's were my primary school years. I do think her style has left an indelible mark on me.

Hsiaoshuang said...

Just saw the obituary of Kwan Shan Mei published by the family in yesterday's Straits Times (Oct 27, 2012, pg.C12). It says Wong Fang Yan (Illustrator Kwan Shan Mei) departed on 8 May 2012 in Canada, Vancouver.

Unknown said...

Hi all, thank you for your wonderful words and compliments. Mdm Kwan would have been very pleased.

I am an ex-student and friend of Mdm Kwan's and am building a public page for her in facebook. Do visiti it when it is launched.

For the moment, if you would like to see some of her other illustrations, you may visit:
https://www.facebook.com/kwanshanmei?ref=ts&fref=ts

Momo said...

Thanks Kris.

I certainly look forward to seeing the public page. In fact, I feel that some sort of exhibition of her work would be most apt too.

Keep in touch!