THE FABULOUS FULLERTON HOTEL

About two years ago I was invited to do a solo exhibition of my Singapore Landmark Art Collection at the Fullerton Hotel. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to present my mixed media fine art to a wider audience in an elegant and historic setting, which was especially fitting seeing as how The Fullerton Hotel painting was one of the stars of the show. In fact, it was this event that inspired me to decided to make affordable art prints, as so many people asked for prints of the paintings. Today I thought I would share a bit about what makes the hotel such a special setting.

Located on Fullerton Road at the mouth of the Singapore River, the Fullerton Hotel has a long and colourful history that dates back to 1829 when the site was designated a fort to protect against naval attacks. In 1874, the fort became the General Post Office, and by 1928 it had been rebuilt into an office building housing other tenants including the Singapore Club, The Exchange, and the Marine Department. During WWII, the building was also used as a makeshift hospital.

In 1997 the Fullerton was officially declared a conservation building, and soon after the Sino Land Company Limited acquired the building and spent millions restoring it and converting it into the majestic hotel you see today. One of the great things about the restoration was that they managed to maintain and preserve many of the original architectural features of the hotel like the Neo-classical Doric columns, Shanghai plaster panels, and original ceilings.

With The Fullerton Hotel painting I wanted to represent a bit of the history of this incredible building, so I incorporated 130 vintage stamps into the painting, many of which have the postal frank mark that shows they went through the postal system when the hotel was still the General Post Office. The addition of the British ER red pillar box next to the hotels’ impressive facade also hints at the history and heritage of this East-meets-West colonial era building.

This painting of The Fullerton is probably my most ambitious painting to date - at 267 x 122 cm it is a large canvas and I chose to do the painting in quite a formal way as this building is one of elegance. I am a mixed media artist and I like to include mediums to build my paintings.  In this piece, I used linocuts for the window, mono printing , chinese paper and 130 vintage stamps along the bottom of the painting, and within the large 'stamp' at the top as I designed this painting like a large postcard bringing in all the elements of the post office the building formerly was. I wanted to link the story of the buildings past and these stamps that have the Singapore frank on them went through the building at one point in time when it was still the post office, and now they are back on my painting. I worked on this piece for 8 months, I had to paint out the whole lower section as I realised the pillars were slightly leaning but I got it perfect with perseverance.

Today the Fullerton Hotel is just is as stunning as ever with 400 rooms and suites, an infinity pool overlooking the Singapore River, and a range of sleek restaurants and cafes that are perfect for leisurely lunches, afternoon tea or a romantic dinner. The hotel also has plenty of spaces that are perfect for events and galas including the Straits Room (formerly the billiards room of the exclusive Singapore Club), the Spa Artisan, and stately ballrooms.

The Fullerton Hotel painting and limited edition prints give a great sense of the grandeur of the building, but you really should visit yourself to see why the hotel has been awarded a place on the Condé Nast Traveler Gold List, as well as an architectural heritage award from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

Visit: www.fullertonhotel.com
Shop The Fullerton Hotel Limited Edition Print