A life in dates

Timeline

A chronology drawn from the primary record. Where a point is reported but not confirmed, the note says so.

Only the year of birth, 1942, is on record; the exact date is not documented, and his current living status is not confirmed in available sources.

1. 1942

   born in Penang

2. 1960

   Penang Local Art Exhibition; Penang Art Society Annual Exhibition

3. 1966

   first solo, Penang Library; group shows at Samat Art Gallery KL (also 1967, 1968)

4. 1967

   second solo, Penang Library

5. 1980

   third solo, Penang State Museum and Art Gallery

6. 1981

   Reader's Digest feature, The Painter who Preserves Malaysia's Past, by Robert Kiener (August) Read the feature

7. 1993

   fourth solo, The Art Gallery Penang, sold out; catalogue Tan Peng Hooi - Oil Paintings published

8. 1998

   retrospective honour, Penang State Art Gallery (reported in auction literature; not in the artist’s own biodata, keep flagged)

9. 1999

   fifth solo, From Realism to Abstraction, The Art Gallery Penang; catalogue published (the scanned book previously catalogued as a 2000 publication is this 1999 catalogue; whether a separate 2000 book exists needs verification)

10. 2005

    sixth solo, USM–ABN AMRO Arts and Cultural Centre, 15 to 31 December; catalogue published

11. 2009

    solo, Penang State Art Gallery; monograph The Works of Tan Peng Hooi by Syed Bakar published

12. 2024

    Penang Scene (1970) in Mutiara Utara, Bank Negara Malaysia collection exhibition

13. 2020s

    recent series: the cubist turn (dates per work as catalogued)