For the past decades, Tan has made a name for himself as one of Singapore’s foremost artists capturing fleeting images of nostalgic beauty. A second-generation artist, Tan received his early childhood art education in China. When he migrated to Singapore in the 50s, he studied under the tutelage of pioneer artists such as Cheong Soo Pieng, Georgette Chen, Liu Kang and Chen Wen-Hsi. After his graduation from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in 1962, Tan continued painting and was a designer with McGraw-Hill Inc between 1963 and 1976, before becoming a full-time artist in 1976. He later graduated from the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts and went on study tours all over Europe, USA and China.

Tan specialises in oil painting, preferring to paint on the spot, tempered by his own responses and sensitivity to the subject. He believes that art must flow out of the artist’s personal experience and that the basis of his art must come from the visual phenomenon he has himself lived through. He has participated in many solo and group exhibitions, including ‘Footprints’ (Singapore, 1999), ‘One Man Art Exhibition’ (Taiwan, 1998), ‘Imagining the City’ (Singapore, 2007) and ‘Tsunami Art 2005 – Phuket’ (Thailand, 2005). For his achievements in visual arts, Tan has received numerous awards, including the Creative Visual Art Award 2005 from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and the prestigious Cultural Medallion from the Singapore Government in 2006.

陈楚智1942年出生于中国，广州。他是新加坡的第二代画家之一，而他的作品出神入化，展现出的怀旧感属于顶尖的。他1958年来到新加坡后受教于先驱画家：钟泗滨、张荔英、赖凤美等。他毕业后仍然坚持创作，在1976年成为了全职画家。

陈楚智喜欢在地绘画，若天气不佳，他则会在画室里画静物。他相信一个画家必须从自身的经历吸取灵感，他所画的作品的起源都来自他所见识过的。

陈楚智从年代至今举办过无数次个人画展和联展，并在俄罗斯、德国、英国、法国、日本、韩国、印度尼西亚、马来西亚、中国台湾、中国香港等国家和地区举办过画展。他也获得许多奖项，例如他2006年获得由新加坡总统亲自颁发的新加坡艺术界最高荣誉——文化奖。