Yong Mun Sen

Who was Yong Mun Sen?

Yong Mun Sen. Born Yong Yen Lang in Kuching, Sarawak, he changed his name to Yong Mun Sen in 1922. He is widely known as the Father of Malaysian Painting. Although trained in formal Chinese brush painting and calligraphy in Kwangtung, China, as an artist he was drawn to watercolours and later oils.

He settled in Penang in 1922, where he had his own art studios on Penang Road and later Northam Road.

Mun Sen is famous for his landscape paintings in watercolours, which incorporated influences from Chinese art resulting in more airy and generalised compositions rather than in more detailed or factual depictions. Since his death in 1962, his works have retained an important and honoured place in Malaysian Art.

He has two offsprings who follow in his footsteps, ChengWah and KhengWah. Both are well-established artists in their own media.