Cartier celebrates women and art at its Art Patrons Society Dinner

In the audience was an intimate group of artists, collectors and art enthusiasts, who had gathered together on a balmy Wednesday evening at a private art space located in Cluny Hill. As Yeo offered her gratitude for Cartier’s “wonderful private initiative that happens in the corporate sphere”, she also shared how gallerists and artists here are grateful for the significant contributions of private collectors, who “put their money, their hearts, their efforts towards the arts”. She cited Lyon, who collects predominantly female artists, as an example of “someone who expends time, space, respect and recognition to female artists when she realised that there’s very little data out there [when it comes to] supporting them”.

When asked how she puts together her art collection, Lyon, who also volunteers as a docent at various museums and art institutions here over the years, shared, “My husband has a particular interest in modernism and, as a product designer, his interest in our collection is with mid-century modern furniture, which goes surprisingly well with everything. [For me,] I have the ‘trickier’ stuff. When I say trickier, I mean deep, pretty confrontational [work], but I try to consider how this art is going to live with us as a family.”

One of the artists in Lyon’s collection is Citra Sasmita, whose work addresses the myths and misconceptions of Balinese art and culture. Through her artworks, the Indonesian artist looks at a woman’s place in society and seeks to upend gender constructs. Her works were also presented at the event, as part of a thought-provoking and unconventional curation by Yeo featuring female artists.

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One of Anum’s paintings and two of her watercolour on paper series—of Peranakan tiles and repeat patterns—line the walls of the main gallery space, where guests later adjourned for a delectable four-course dinner and conversation. Also in the main gallery are the hyperreal video works of Vietnamese artist Quynh Dong, who challenges cultural stereotypes, and Singaporean artist Wei Leng Tay, who traverses various mediums, including photography, focusing on the topic of displacement. 

There were also artworks by other Singaporean artists waiting to be discovered at every turn, from Stephanie Jane Burt’s sculptural installation, Late Bloomer (2024), which takes pride of place on the front lawn, to Shayne Phua’s ceramic vessel in the washroom, and Nature Shankar’s textile work, which explores the intimate relationship between presence and existence.

From the artist to the gallerists, the framers to the restorers—it is the relationships forged through art that Lyon values. The same goes for Yeo: “It’s an ecosystem, a village that develops the art scene and supports the artists. Of course, it’s not just the money and funds going through the industry, but also the human energies, relationships [forged through] events such as this [Cartier Art Patrons Society Dinner] where we discuss ideas and projects. The beauty of contemporary art is that it’s living artists; they can benefit from your time, your efforts, your connections—and I think that’s really beautiful.”

Perhaps Anne Yitzhakov, the managing director of Cartier Singapore, Malaysia and Asean, summed it up best in her welcome speech at the start of the evening, “At Cartier, we really believe in the transformative power of art, the one that transcends boundaries, that speaks volumes without words, and that really connects us to our deepest emotions. We want to pay tribute to the visionary women who are shaping and uplifting the Southeast Asia art scene.”

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