On a sunlit stretch of South Beach, where heritage architecture meets the pulse of modern Singapore, a new cultural address is quietly taking root. Early next year, Hong Kong–founded Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery will open its first overseas outpost in the city, marking a thoughtful expansion rather than a flashy arrival. The debut sets the tone with an exhibition that feels as much like a contemplative stroll through a garden as it does a landmark art event.

Titled Worlds beyond Reality – Monet’s Legacy II, the inaugural show places an 1887 Claude Monet masterpiece, Pivoines (Peonies), at its heart. Painted during the artist’s formative years in Giverny, the work captures more than flowers in bloom; it reveals Monet’s lifelong fascination with the garden as a living studio, carefully cultivated yet endlessly alive. Bold colour contrasts, liberated brushwork and a sense of movement hint at the Water Lilies that would later define his legacy.

Rather than isolating Monet in history, the exhibition invites him into dialogue with artists across generations and geographies. Works by modern masters such as Zao Wou-Ki, Chu Teh-Chun and Lalan sit alongside contemporary voices including Li Huayi, Teo Eng Seng, Xue Song, Ziad Dalloul and Shara Hughes. Together, they explore how nature, whether real, remembered or imagined—becomes a conduit for inner worlds shaped by culture, migration and personal experience.

The curatorial idea draws a poetic parallel between Giverny and Singapore. Monet’s garden was a site of experimentation and reinvention; Singapore, often described as a “garden city”, is similarly defined by lush greenery woven into an urban, multicultural fabric. For Kwai Fung Hin, this resonance makes Singapore more than a strategic location—it becomes a metaphorical extension of the gallery’s long-held vision: a place where artistic traditions intersect and evolve.

Founded in Hong Kong in 1991 by Catherine Kwai, the gallery has built its reputation on a cross-cultural perspective shaped by postwar Paris, when immigrant artists transformed modern art through exchange and reinterpretation. As the gallery approaches its 35th anniversary in 2026, the Singapore opening feels like a natural continuation of that journey. “We want to introduce international talents while contributing meaningfully to the local art ecosystem,” Kwai shares, underscoring a commitment to dialogue rather than mere expansion.

The exhibition unfolds like a series of intimate encounters with nature. Zao Wou-Ki, Lalan and Chu Teh-Chun translate landscapes into abstract, spiritual spaces informed by both Chinese philosophy and Western modernism. Li Huayi’s ink works, shimmering with gold leaf, channel the literati tradition while echoing Monet’s fascination with shifting light. Closer to home, Singaporean pioneer Teo Eng Seng’s textured paper works and Xue Song’s charred collages invite viewers to “inhabit” nature, reflecting contemporary concerns about environment and society.

Further along, Shara Hughes’ anthropomorphic flowers and Ziad Dalloul’s dreamlike interiors delve into the subconscious, where memory and imagination blur. Like Monet, these artists look beyond surface beauty, using familiar motifs to uncover emotional and psychological depths.

Opening in January 2026, Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery Singapore positions itself as more than a new white cube in the city. With its inaugural exhibition rooted in gardens, memory and cultural exchange, the space signals an intention to grow slowly and thoughtfully—planting seeds for conversations that connect art history with the rhythms of contemporary life.

Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery Singapore opens on 20th January, 2026 at 30 Beach Road, #01-01, Singapore 189763. Worlds beyond Reality – Monet’s Legacy II runs from 21st January to 28th March 2026.