LIM TZE PENG
FROM THEN TO NOW: CAPTURING LIFE
A DIALOGUE WITH LIM TZE PENG
FRAGMENTS OF LIFE
SINGAPORE RIVER, THE LIFEBLOOD OF A COUNTRY’S ECONOMY
FROM THEN TO NOW CHINATOWN
KAMPONG LIFE
LIM TZE PENG
FROM THEN TO NOW: CAPTURING LIFE
A DIALOGUE WITH LIM TZE PENG
FROM THEN TO NOW CHINATOWN
FRAGMENTS OF LIFE
SINGAPORE RIVER, THE LIFEBLOOD OF A COUNTRY’S ECONOMY
KAMPONG LIFE
FOREWORD
BY JAZZ CHONG
“From Then to Now: Capturing Life” explores not only Lim Tze Peng’s fascination for our way of life, but also his fierce and relentless passion for life itself.
FROM THEN TO NOW
INTRODUCTION
“I paint like I write and write like I paint” - Lim Tze Peng has stated many times that his practices of painting and calligraphy are closely linked.
CHINATOWN
INTRODUCTION
With the gradual urbanisation of Singapore that meant old buildings would be demolished and forever lost, Lim Tze Peng embarked on frequent painting expeditions to capture the scenes of 'Old Singapore.'
MOONCAKE SEASON
Lim Tze Peng's dynamic style is a sentimental call to the golden days of a Singapore that has long gone, but remains conserved in its own unique way for us to look back upon fondly.
A DIALOGUE WITH LIM TZE PENG
Lim Tze Peng shares some thoughts and inspirations from his art journey, from his early paintings of Old Singapore to his most recent works, with Jazz Chong of Ode To Art. 27
FRAGMENTS OF LIFE
INTRODUCTION 35
By focusing on seemingly mundane objects or everyday scenes, Lim Tze Peng highlights familiar elements of South-East Asian culture and invites viewers to reflect.
NYEPI
Nyepi, also known as the Balinese Day of Silence, is commemorated every Isakawarsa (Saka New Year) according to the Balinese calendar. 41
SINGAPORE RIVER, THE LIFEBLOOD OF A COUNTRY’S ECONOMY
INTRODUCTION
Singapore’s status of free port led the colonised city to become an epicentre of international trade.
The water and the sky fuse together in an infinite reflection of controlled colour smudges, blotches and bleedings. 51 SUNSET AT THE SINGAPORE RIVER, 1970S
INTRODUCTION
In his series of paintings, Lim Tze Peng paints a longforgotten sight in Singapore by paying tribute to the humble kampong.
LIVING BY THE RIVER
Sampans boats rest peacefully beside kampong houses on stilts, shadowed by a backdrop of forest in the distance.
Although Lim Tze Peng is known and recognised for capturing a bygone era, and the historical value of his work should not be trivialised, this exhibition chooses to focus on traditions and culture as a fundamental and transversal aspect of Lim Tze Peng’s body of work, honouring his passion for the way of life that has developed in South-East Asia, and particularly Singapore.
Even in his well-known Chinatown scenes, the city he depicts is never bare or still, it is always bustling with life; and upon admiring them, I always find myself remembering the smell of hawkers’ carts, of fresh laundry hanging from the windows, the laughs of shopkeepers or passers-by, the cackling of poultry, the taste of mooncakes or freshly cut durian from the stalls, strong poetic and nostalgic synaesthesiae I know are shared by many an admirer of his works.
“From Then to Now: Capturing Life” explores not only Lim Tze Peng’s fascination for our way of life, but also his fierce and relentless passion for life itself. At an age where mobility may have proven an obstacle, his lust for life carries him and he pours his whole being into his works just as much today as he did fifty years ago. Despite his many successes and accolades, both in Singapore and overseas, he never rests on his laurels, keeps working and always strives for more. This admirable aspiration towards constant betterment pushes him to keep experimenting and innovating.
In our 2020 exhibition “A Century of Memories”, we witnessed with delight his bold introduction of vivid colours to infuse his scenes with life. In this exhibition, the artist takes his process further by returning to black and white scenes he painted in the 1980s and colouring them using the techniques he developed in the 2020s - resulting in paintings 40 years in the making! It is an honour for me to witness Lim Tze Peng’s creativity and to be able to present these fifty works spanning fifty years of his career, from the 1970s to 2022.
Looking back to the 1970s could be seen simply as nostalgia, but Lim Tze Peng’s relation to the past is more complex: his works may allude to a bygone era but they are highly contemporary in the technique, and this constant time travel between ‘Then’ and ‘Now’ is a never-ending source of inspiration to the artist. In a circular conception of time inspired by the artist’s Chinese cultural heritage, “From Then to Now” could also have been called “From Now to Then”, hinting at the way our contemporary point of view informs our vision of the past, and leads us to receive and interpret Lim Tze Peng’s life scenes in a different manner than we would have fifty years ago.
I hope you will see in this exhibition not only a travel through time, but a sensory journey, a visual, olfactory, gustatory and auditive one, full of life. As Lim Tze Peng paints with his whole body and soul, I would like to invite you to appreciate his art with your mind, your senses, and your memories.
JAZZ CHONG, SEPTEMBER 2022
Lim Tze Peng has stated many times that his practices of painting and calligraphy are closely linked. After his research around calligraphic abstraction (‘hutuzi’) in black and white, and then in colour, his process of integrating colour has naturally extended to paintings.
Creating new paintings infused with colour was a first step of his research (cf the 2020 exhibition ‘A Century of Memories’), and the next one was reworking some of his black and white paintings from the 1980s, applying his colour techniques to entirely transform his works. The very delicate strokes and high level of detail are characteristic of his practice en plein air from the 1980s, but the added colours enhance the sense of atmosphere, of life, and inform our interpretation regarding the time of the day or the mood and energy of the scene. This series may feel more realistic, but the artist’s penchant for abstraction, or suggestion, can be felt through colour bleedings in the skies or the backgrounds.
Far beyond revised works, these paintings are the product of the merging of two different techniques, two styles that self-taught and innovative Lim Tze Peng has developed himself. A constant dialogue between past and present, ‘Then’ and ‘Now’, tradition and innovation, these paintings are the result of more than 40 years of tireless dedication to his art.
“I paint like I write and I write like I paint.”
EVENING GATHERINGS I Ink on Rice Paper, 68 x 68 cm
EVENING GATHERINGS II Ink on Rice Paper, 67 x 66.5 cm
With the gradual urbanisation of Singapore that meant old buildings would be demolished and forever lost, Lim Tze Peng embarked on frequent painting expeditions to capture the scenes of 'Old Singapore.' Driving to locations such as Chinatown, he would fastidiously paint every day - completing one painting in the morning and one in the evening. At a time which he describes as his most prolific period, he amassed an impressive collection of almost 500 paintings of these landmark scenes.
Crowded, overwhelming the senses, alive —Chinatown's streets conjure moments in time. Ancient Singapore still lives in those alleys and stands, and the artist's re-invented style of painting reminds us to reminisce about these places, gone but not forgotten.
In these colourful renditions, painted from memory, Lim presents a picture that reflects the past and yet enlivens it with glimpses of life, motion and colour. Intricate strokes derived from calligraphy and the use of classic ink wash imbue the image with gradients and tones that exude emotion. He renders the scenes with exquisite detail, depicting the nuances of the facades of the shophouses as well as various patrons and passers-by.
CHINATOWN
A BUSY DAY Ink on Rice Paper, 199 x 239 cm
STREET LANES OF OLD Ink on Rice Paper, 122 x 123 cm
THRIVING BUSINESS Ink on Rice Paper, 121 x 121 cm
MOONCAKE FESTIVAL Ink on Rice Paper, 120 x 125 cm
One look at this scene, and even without any distinctive indication of the locality, viewers may feel as if they know and have been in that place. The vibrant sheltered stands displaying massive piles of fresh pomelo and the generous red accents highlighting the details of luminous lanterns and massive signboards, bring to life the jovial atmosphere of the bustling community in the midst of Mid Autumn festivities.
With rapid advancement into an era of technology and modernity, the landscapes of Singaporean communities have undergone massive change, often without leaving locals much time to look back at our culture, to preserve, to reminisce. Lim Tze Peng's dynamic style is a sentimental call to the golden days of a Singapore that has long gone, but remains conserved in its own unique way for us to look back upon fondly.
MOONCAKE SEASON
BY THE BANKS Ink on Rice Paper, 96 x 100 cm
SELLING PEANUTS Ink on Rice Paper, 101 x 102 cm
BUZZLING MORNING Ink on Rice Paper, 97 x 101 cm
HAWKER NOSTALAGIA Ink on Rice Paper, 102 x 110 cm
Lim Tze Peng shares some thoughts and inspirations from his art journey, from his early paintings of old Singapore to his most recent works, with Jazz Chong of Ode To Art.
A DIALOGUE WITH
LIM TZE PENG
Your artistic career has consisted of many stages of progression and evolution. Which did you find the most important in your journey?
I believe every stage was important to me, regardless of whether it was painting Bali scenes or the old streets of Singapore. I enjoyed painting all of them and painted each piece with careful consideration and effort. I began painting more in the 80s after I retired from Xin Min School. That was when I started painting mountain peaks, after which I painted Singapore scenes and landscapes. I would make my way down and draw a piece in the morning, return home to rest and then continue drawing till it was evening, unless rain or some other circumstances stopped me. It was my most diligent and productive period as an artist.
JC Who would you say are among your favourite and most influential Western and Chinese artists?
LTP I enjoy the works of French PostImpressionist painter, Cézanne. When it comes to Chinese artists, I would say Chinese literati painter Huang Binhong as he constantly incorporated new ideas into traditional Chinese paintings - be it experimenting with different elements, such as light and dark.
Pioneer artist Liu Kang, who was also greatly influenced by Cézanne, Van Gogh and Matisse, once told me that my paintings were 'bitter' and not 'sweet’. But like the artists who inspired me, I am not good at doing things just to please people - it is just the way I am.
JC Your overseas painting trips were invaluable in their contribution to your subject matter and style. Do share with us some of your major takeaways from this time.
LTP When I started out, I would draw anything that I saw. Later I was interested in drawing Malay kampongs; their way of life, their scenery and their sarongs were all fascinating to me. I found beauty in their idyllic, nondescript lifestyle.
In the 1960s and 70s, I made frequent trips with the Ten Men Art Group, which consisted
of artists such as Cheong Soo Pieng and Chen Wen Hsi, to Bali and other Southeast Asian countries. These trips would often last a couple of months at a time. My art then made close to two hundred pieces on the island. I used to paint Bali sceneries (Nanyang subject matters) with ink and brushes from China, and a European colour palette. My paintings were hence neither Chinese nor Western, which confused some critics at the time. However, to me, it was the right path.
My wife once accompanied me on one such trip because someone made a joke that I had another family in Bali. When we were there, I was painting under the blazing hot sun and she could not stand it - she told me she wanted to go home: She thought I was a madman because of the way I was so crazily enthusiastic about art! She once jokingly said that art is my first wife and that she is my second.
JC Do share with us the thoughts behind your more local subject matters, such as the
Singapore River or Chinatown.
LTP I think an artist should paint things native to their own country - it is only then that they will do it well. Painting things that are not native to an artist would be like a tree without roots, or like water without a source. If an artist were to plumb the depths of his own origins, he would see that there are actually many themes that can emerge from within oneself.
I started by painting Malay kampongs in Bali and in Pasir Ris, where I grew up. In those times, Pasir Ris, which means “white sands” in Malay (referring to the white sandy beach at Singapore northeastern coastline), used to be a low-lying undeveloped area with plantation estates and farm animals roaming around freely. I then started painting the Singapore River and Chinatown. Back then, the bustling river was known as Singapore’s economic lifeline. I love the River and I believe it is worthy of our remembrance and memories.
A lot of my Chinatown scenes were created before the government's urban redevelopment projects happened - I wanted to preserve the vanishing villages and street scenes of old Singapore so I painted feverishly and as much as possible. Over the years, as the landscape changed and I was no longer able to paint on site, my process changed but my love for the Singapore River never wavered. Presenting a larger selection of works from this series is meaningful to me, and I am grateful for the opportunity.
JC What inspired you to experiment with such bright colours and include them in your Singapore scenes? Your style is of course unmistakable, but the feel is quite bold; you surprised us all with it!
LTP As an artist, I do not want to ever stand still. I have always tried my best to see many exhibitions and read as many art books as I could, to understand other artists and widen my ideas. Working hard, experimenting, never settling, being daring, this is what I will always strive to do. In my experience, it is the only way to reach a breakthrough.
I always follow my heart and paint what I like, but it brings me great joy to see younger generations particularly appreciating this colourful series, I think because it is so bright and full of life. I am very grateful and I hope that my next series may bring joy too.
JC Speaking of your latest series, why did you choose to reinterpret early works and add your recently developed colour technique to them? We are in awe of the result, and the idea that these works were 40 years in the making is impressive. It feels significant in the context of your whole career, as if you are completing the circle by linking past and present.
LTP Around the 2000s, I could no longer leave the house to sketch, so I engaged in creative work at home. l used to paint the scene as I had observed it but now I reflect, and I paint. Innovating with size and colour was partly motivated by nostalgia, and partly was just me wanting to be daring - I thought the colours were bold, adventurous and unexpected.
Since I was then painting from memory, l used to make drafts on rice paper. l also have a lot of
old smaller sketches, painted outdoors on the streets, which I would take out to consider if I should paint larger versions of those pictures.
For more than twenty years, I just saw these sketches as inspirations or visual references, but never actually considered them, until I realised what an important role they had played in the development of my art. I wanted to take them a step further, to experiment and transform them into something audacious. As they inspired me so much these past few years with my colourful renditions of Singapore scenes, I chose to add colour to them to see if these two styles could work together.
JC After a more than 60-year artistic journey, do you have any words for your collectors and admirers of your work?
LTP With this exhibition, I want to show my love for our country, for our Chinatown and our River but also for our history and our traditions. However, painting traditions does not mean I have to paint in a traditional way, and I hope to further develop my style through more practice and research. You can say that it is an amalgamation of Eastern and Western influences but ultimately, I want to
incorporate my personality into my works. My goal is to put my heart into my paintings and I hope I succeeded in doing it. Thank you for helping me hold this exhibition for the public and art lovers to appreciate. I hope that others will be able to appreciate my works and enjoy collecting them.
JC Thank you so much for your time today. Your unceasing zest for knowledge and selfimprovement will always be a great source of inspiration for me as you have been a great teacher and mentor. We are honoured and look forward to hosting your “From Then To Now: Capturing Life” exhibition this October.
“Painting things that are not native to an artist would be like a tree without roots, or like water without a source. If an artist were to plumb the depths of his own origins, he would see that there are actually many themes that can emerge from within oneself.”
By focusing on seemingly mundane objects or everyday scenes, Lim Tze Peng highlights familiar elements of South-East Asian culture and invites viewers to reflect: are all his paintings really depicting a bygone era, or are some traditions still impacting our daily lives?
The synaesthesiae are particularly compelling in this series where the focus is brought to distinct items. Admire how the artist plays with our senses, feel how his depiction of local fruits and local delicacies awaken your smell and taste, how the brushes from his studio hint at the visual, how the Chinese opera singer or the rustling of the wind in the tree bring familiar sounds to your mind.
FRAGMENTS OF LIFE
1 — HOMEMADE DUMPLINGS Ink on Rice Paper, 68 x 68 cm
FRESH COCONUTS Ink on Rice Paper, 68 x 69 cm
DRIED GOODS Ink on Rice Paper, 68 x 67 cm 1 — CHINESE OPERA Ink on Rice Paper, 68 x 68 cm
MALACCA SCENE Ink on Rice Paper, 68 x 68 cm
BRUSHES AND INK Ink on Rice Paper, 150 x 210 cm
Nyepi, also known as the Balinese Day of Silence, is commemorated every Isakawarsa (Saka New Year) according to the Balinese calendar. As a day reserved for self-reflection and meditation, all goes quiet on the island of Bali. On the day before Nyepi, islanders throw ducks into the ocean as part of the purification ceremony.
“Bali is a paradise for artists.” During his trips to Bali over the course of 30 years, Lim Tze Peng painted and documented the scenes he observed of island life, quickly becoming enamoured by the rustic simplicity of the rituals and festival of Bali. This painting, one of his incredible collection of sketches and ink paintings, is yet another treasured memory and scene from indigenous living in Southeast Asia.
TREE MOVEMENT Ink on Rice Paper, 139 x 74 cm
Singapore’s status of free port led the colonised city to become an epicentre of international trade. Bumboats, also called twakows or tongkangs, were used to transport cargoes, supplies or goods from ship to shore or vice versa, making the Singapore River integral for the country's development in trade and economic growth. Until the 1980s, the river was amass with activity, with coolies loading and unloading goods, especially along the banks of Boat Quay and its numerous warehouses and jetties.
The changing landscape of the river mirrored the transition of the nation into a modern metropolis and Lim Tze Peng has made the river a cornerstone of his work, elevating an industrial landscape to the picturesque through his nostalgic celebration. Paradoxically, the beloved bumboats are both a memory of old times and the agent of development that brought change - they already contain the seed of their own disappearance.
SINGAPORE RIVER, THE LIFEBLOOD
OF A COUNTRY’S ECONOMY
BUMBOATS BY COLEMAN BRIDGE Ink on Rice Paper, 97 x 110 cm
SUNRISE AT THE QUAY Ink on Rice Paper, 97 x 110 cm
The water and the sky fuse together in an infinite reflection of controlled colour smudges, blotches and bleedings, contrasting with the calligraphyinspired strokes of the bumboats.
The surrounding architecture, such as the Coleman Bridge or shophouses along the bank, result of the merging of colonial British and Chinese culture, takes centre stage, but the presence of ant-like, hardworking coolies reminds us that success and prosperity can only be achieved through hard work.
SUNSET AT THE SINGAPORE RIVER
BUMBOATS
Rice Paper, 109 x 101
FOUR BOATS AFLOAT Ink on Rice Paper, 68 x 138 cm
HARBOUR VIEW Ink on Rice Paper, 70 x 70 cm
BUMBOAT TAXI Ink on Rice Paper, 68 x 68 cm
SIDE BY SIDE Ink on Rice Paper, 70 x 138 cm
DAY TO NIGHT Ink on Rice Paper, 96 x 100 cm
BUMBOATS STANDING BY Ink on Rice Paper, 101 x 101 cm
TRADING LOADS Ink on Rice Paper, 97 x 98 cm
BUMBOATS NOSTALGIA Ink on Rice Paper, 100 x 109 cm
BUMBOATS UNDER THE GOLDEN SUNSET Ink on Rice Paper, 34 x 168 cm
In his series of paintings, Lim Tze Peng paints a long-forgotten sight in Singapore by paying tribute to the humble kampong where families lived together in a community full of ‘gotong royong’ or kampong spirit. Having grown up in a kampong himself, the artist lovingly depicts traditional kampong houses in the traditional style with wooden rafters and simple awnings, and shows his fondness for the simple village life.
Nature is more than a background, it occupies a large expanse of the paintings, reflecting its importance in daily life. Fruits, poultry and fish provide sustenance and trees are the source of wood used to build houses and fishing boats. The scenes depicted celebrate a harmonious and symbiotic life with nature, and widen our understanding of the life the artist chooses to capture, beyond human activities.
KAMPONG LIFE
KAMPONG LIFE Ink on Rice Paper, 69 x 69 cm
KAMPONG LIFE IV Ink on Rice Paper, 68 x 68 cm
KAMPONG LIFE II Ink on Rice Paper, 59 x 94 cm
KAMPONG LIFE III Ink on Rice Paper, 59 x 94 cm
This work seems suspended in time, as it depicts the simple and tranquil kampong life, most prevalent in the 60s and 70s. Sampans boats rest peacefully beside kampong houses on stilts, shadowed by a backdrop of forest in the distance. The foreground’s precise, defined brushstrokes, contrasted with blurry ink wash in the background, creates a dynamic sense of depth. Such is an interesting adaptation of Western perspective techniques to the Chinese ink medium - an aspect carefully honed and developed by Lim Tze Peng over the course of his career. With intricate brushstrokes and earthen, muted colours, the artist portrays the essence and spirit of kampong life, rarely seen in urban Singapore.
LIVING BY THE RIVER
PULAU UBIN Ink on Rice Paper, 68 x 69 cm
UNDER THE SHADES Ink on Rice Paper, 100 x 100 cm
LIVING BY THE RIVER Ink on Rice Paper, 70 x 138 cm
1819
Sir Stamford Raffles, along with the British East India Company, lands on Singapore.
1822
Sir Stamford Raffles establishes his master Town Plan, allocating the west of Singapore River to the Chinese which eventually formed Chinatown.
28 September 1921
Born on September 28, in a kampong (village) in Pasir Ris, Lim Tze Peng is the eldest of seven children. His parents were farmers who reared pigs and chickens while also tapping rubber trees. Some records state Lim’s year of birth as 1923, but this was a false declaration made by the artist to appear younger, with the hope that he would be able to work longer in a job. This is how Singapore then was described by founding father and ex-prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. “The population was less than a million and most of Singapore was covered by mangrove swamps, rubber plantations, and secondary forest because rubber had failed, and forests around Mandai/Bukit Timah took its place.”
c.1930
Beginning of what would later come to be known as the Nanyang Style, a style of painting pioneered by Singapore’s first generation artists, characterized by an experimental and syncretic approach to pictorial representation.
1 September 1939
Beginning of World War II.
8 February 1942
The Japanese invade Singapore. (Lim Tze Peng is 20 years old.)
1. A young Lim Tze Peng.
8–15 February 1942
The Battle of Singapore.
15 February 1942
The Fall of Singapore. British surrender Singapore to the Japanese and the Japanese Occupation begins.
2 September 1945
The Japanese officially surrender, ending World War II.
12 September 1945
The Japanese complete signing all the surrender documents and Singapore is returned to British Colonial rule.
1945
Marriage of Lim Tze Peng to Soh Siew Lay. The couple would eventually have a total of six children. (Lim Tze Peng is 24 years old at the time.)
1948
Lim Tze Peng graduates from Chung Cheng High School, where he had nurtured his talent for calligraphy. As a Chinese-medium school modelled after those in China, Chung Cheng High placed a heavy emphasis on the aesthetic education.
1949
Lim Tze Peng begins his teaching career at Sin Ming Primary School.
1951
Lim Tze Peng is appointed principal of Sin Ming Primary School, where he remained until 1981.
c. 1950s
Lim Tze Peng begins establishing his art practice.
3 June 1959
Singapore becomes self-governing city state under the British Crown. This was regarded as a great triumph and a step towards Independence. At the first general elections for a Legislative Assembly, the People’s Action Party’s Lee Kuan Yew becomes Prime Minister. (Lim Tze Peng is 37 years old.)
1960
Lim Tze Peng makes a road trip to Malaya with Choo Keng Kwang, Chen Cheng Mei and Tan Teo Kwang, which would eventually lead to the informal gathering of what would be called the Ten Men Art Group. The group, led by Yeh Chi Wei, would also include Cheah Phee Chye, Lai Foong Moi, Lee Sik Khoon, Tan Miow Kheng, and Yeo Tiong Wah.
1961
Lim Tze Peng travels once more to the east coast of Peninsula Malaya with the Ten Men Art Group, where the artists collected photographs, sketches and artifacts.
31 August 1963
Singapore gains de facto independence for the island state and joins the Federation of Malaya along with Borneo (as the State of Sabah) and Sarawak to form Malaysia. (Lim Tze Peng is 41 years old.)
The Japanese Surrender Ceremony taking place in front of the Municipal Building on 12 Sep 1945. The Allied soldiers are parading in this ceremony.
— Xin Min School after renovation.
1963
Lim Tze Peng is awarded with the Public Administration Medal, Singapore.
1964
The Ten Men Art Exhibition is held at the Victoria Memorial Hall, Singapore. This exhibition featured paintings by Yeh Chi Wei, Lin Chiu Suang, Yeo Hwee Bin, Choo Keng Kwang, Shui Tit Sing, Tan Choo Kuan, Chee Pek Hoe, Tan Hock Beng, Tan Seah Boey and Keng Lih Juin. It was opened by Minister for Culture S. Rajaratnam.
1967
9 August 1965
Singapore breaks off from Malaysia to become fully independent. (Lim Tze Peng is 46 years old.)
Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines form the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
1968
Singapore holds its first general elections and the People’s Action Party wins all 58 seats. They remain the central governing party till today.
1973
Lim Tze Peng turns his focus from oil painting to ink painting.
1977
Founding father of Singapore and then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew calls for a clean up of the Singapore River, which was heavily polluted due to constant traffic from trade and by the squatters who lived by the river and called it home. He proclaimed that “In 10 years let us have fishing in the Singapore River and Kallang River.”
c. 1950
Lim Tze Peng’s first solo exhibition, Singapore. Evolution of the Ten Men Art Group to the Southeast Asian Art Association, a formal entity with Yeh Chi Wei as the president. (Lim Tze Peng is 50 years old.)
1977
Lim Tze Peng is awarded the Special Prize from Commonwealth Art Exhibition in England.
1978
Lim Tze Peng is a participant of the Singapore Artists Group Exhibition in Moscow, Russia.
Lim Tze Peng makes a total of six trips with the Ten Men Art Group to the Malaysian peninsula, Java, Bali, Thailand, Cambodia, Sarawak, Sabah, Brunei and Sumatra, as well as individual trips with Yeh Chi Wei, Liu Kang, Cheong Soo Pieng and Cheng Chong Swee. Lim continued the practice of painting en plein air in his later years, undaunted by the task of carrying his daily sketching supplies with him.
From Left to Right: Tan Choh Tee, Lim Tze Peng, Hou Hsi-ching, Phua Cheng Phue. 2 — First Independence Day Celebration. National Day Parade 1966 at the Padang – President Yusof Ishak taking the salute at City Hall. 3 — Painting in Lake Toba, Sumatra, Indonesia on a trip with the Ten Men Art Group. 4 — Lim Tze Peng on the steps of a long house, Medan, Sumatra, 1962
c.1980s
Significant publicity in Singapore about the impending ‘cleaning-up’ of Chinatown and the resettling of street hawkers, who would be redirected to the Kreta Ayer Complex. Existing shophouses had been demolished, and there was speculation that the remaining buildings in the area would be completely destroyed to make way for modernity.
1993
1981
Lim Tze Peng is awarded Public Service Medal by Singapore. He retires as principal at Sin Ming Primary School and dedicates himself to painting the changing city-scape of Singapore. (He is 60 at the time.)
1987
The Singapore River Clean-up is completed within the deadline.
1989
Chinatown is marked as a conservation area, parts of which have their iconic buildings and shophouses preserved.
1990
Lee Kuan Yew steps down as prime minister after 31 years of service and hands over the reins to Goh Chok Tong.
1 — The old and the new lie side by side in Chinatown.
1991
Lim Tze Peng holds his 2nd Solo Exhibition: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, in the National Museum of Singapore.
Ong Teng Cheong is Singapore’s first elected president.
1995
Lim Tze Peng holds an exhibition entitled “Moments” at the Takashimaya Gallery in Singapore.
1998
Lim Tze Peng partakes in “Meeting Places in Fleeting Spaces”, an exhibition held by the Singapore Art Museum.
1999
S.R. Nathan is elected as Singapore’s first Indian president.
2000
Lim Tze Peng spends a two-month residency in Paris, France, staying in the Cité Internationale des Arts (International City of Arts). Lim lived in one of the two apartments belonging to the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, leased in the late 1990s for use by artists of the Academy. During his stay, Lim documented the Parisian landscape en plein air. As a self-taught artist who learned from the works of Matisse and Picasso, and who names Cézanne as his favourite painter, Lim’s residency in the French capital inspired and renewed him. In his own words, it was a visit to the ‘mecca’ for artists of generations, past and future. (He is 79 years old.)
c. 2000
Lim Tze Peng begins developing a new series of abstract calligraphic expression: 糊涂字 hu tu zi, which emphasized the expressiveness and elegance of strokes in calligraphy.
2002
The landmark Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay opens. It is widely regarded as Singapore’s centre for the Arts.
2003
Lim Tze Peng is awarded the Cultural Medallion Award for Art in Singapore. (He is 82 years old.)
2003
Lim Tze Peng holds his eponymous exhibition, “Tze Peng”, in the Singapore Art Museum, with a donation of 81 pieces.
c. Mid-2000s to the early 2010s
Lim Tze Peng begins work on a tree and roots inspired series, drawing from his love of nature.
2004
Lee Hsien Loong, Lee Kuan Yew’s son, becomes Singapore’s third prime minister.
2006
Lim Tze Peng holds another eponymous exhibition, “Tze Peng in Paris” with the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore, with a donation of 45 pieces to the academy. He also holds another exhibition the same year with the Singapore Tyler Print Institute, entitled “Infinite Gestures- Recent Paintings by Lim Tze Peng”.
2009
2008
Lim Tze Peng holds an inaugural exhibition at NTU Art and Heritage Gallery in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He also holds another exhibition the same year with Art Retreat Museum, Singapore, entitled “Inroads: Lim Tze Pengs New Ink Work.”
Lim Tze Peng is the first Singaporean artist to be exhibited at the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, with an exhibition entitled “Inroads: The Ink Journey of Lim Tze Peng”. With Inroads, Lim sought to break free from the shackles of on-site painting, seeking instead to look inward and paint by reflecting rather than observing. At the age of 88, Lim put years of internalized artistic material to paper once more, this time seeking out new ways of seeing.
2010
Lim Tze Peng holds “My Kampong, My Home” with Singapore Management University gallery.
2012
Lim Tze Peng holds two exhibitions, “Tze Peng in Bali” with Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore and “Black and White” with Ode to Art, Singapore.
May 2012
Lim’s Singapore River Scene (1978) broke records by fetching HK$620,000 (S$101,800) at a Christie’s auction, a hithertounsurpassed price for a work by a living Singaporean artist.
2013
Lim Tze Peng holds a solo exhibition entitled “ 攀登 The Journey” with Esplanade, Singapore.
2014
The Lim Tze Peng Art Gallery in Chung Cheng High School is opened, with over 100 pieces donated by the artist. Lim Tze Peng also exhibits his paintings at Art Stage: Larger Than Life, with Ode to Art, Singapore. Lim’s Larger Than Life paintings mark a significant change in the artist’s oeuvre, considering his advanced age at the time. They combine Lim’s calligraphic strokes with his desire to preserve elements of old Singaporean landscapes, resulting in monumental works with familiar themes.
23rd March 2015
Founding father Lee Kuan Yew passes away and Singapore enters a one-week mourning period.
9 August 2015
Singapore celebrates its 50th National Day. (Lim Tze Peng is 94 years old.)
13 October 2015
Lim Tze Peng holds “Impressions”, an art exhibition with Ode To Art, Singapore.
2016
Lim Tze Peng is awarded the Meritorious Service Medal at the National Day Awards. He also holds an exhibition with the National University of Singapore Museum entitled “Evening Climb: The Later Style of Lim Tze Peng”.
22 August 2016
S. R. Nathan passes away and Singapore enters a one-week mourning period.
14 September 2017
Halimah Yacob is elected as the first female president.
2018
Lim Tze Peng holds a solo exhibition titled “Portrait of the Heart” and a book launch in National Museum Singapore with Ode To Art, Singapore.
2019
Singapore’s Bicentennial, Singapore turns 200 since the founding of Singapore by Sir Stamford Raffles.
3 August – 15 September, 2019
Lim Tze Peng holds The Spirit of Ink (墨緣), a solo art exhibition in Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum with Ode To Art, Singapore in collaboration with IDF Singapore.
28th September, 2020
Lim Tze Peng turns 100 years old and opens its 7th solo exhibition with Ode to Art "A Century of Memories".
15 June 2021
Launch of Woon Tai Ho’s “Soul of Ink: Lim Tze Peng at 100”, a biography of Lim Tze Peng, with Guest of Honour PM Lee Hsieng Loong.
Born in Singapore on 28 September 1921, Lim Tze Peng is one of Singapore’s most significant artists and a living legend. Renowned for his Chinese ink drawings and paintings of post-independence Singapore, he also practices Chinese calligraphy. Alongside numerous solo and group exhibitions, both local and international, his masterpieces are exhibited in the Singapore Art Museum and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and are part of many prestigious collections. Lim has been bestowed several awards including the Special Prize at the Commonwealth Art Exhibition in England in 1977 and the prestigious Cultural Medallion in Singapore in 2003. In May 2012, he broke records with the sale of his works at a Christies auction in Hong Kong.
Even though Lim was born and educated in Singapore, his diligent studies and daily dedication to practicing his craft enabled him to excel in the Chinese ink tradition. His new ink works are deeply rooted in tradition, yet, they have a palpably contemporary feel and can be enjoyed by those who are schooled in other traditions.
Lim is famously known for his Chinese ink drawings and paintings of Chinatown and the Singapore River produced in the early 1980s after having embarked on his artistic journey in the 1950s. His paintings of these landmarks signified and reflected the change these prime locations were undergoing during urban development in Singapore. These paintings are a memory of what Lim saw as a Singaporean watching his kampong transform into an urbanized capital, and documented the cultural diversity and transformation of the city. Lim shows that Singapore’s multi-cultural environment may provide a context in which artists can respond to a variety of influences without being trapped in a defensive form of traditionalism or a superficial form of cosmopolitanism.
Having a solid foundation in Chinese philosophy, art and culture, Lim also practiced Chinese calligraphy, especially in the 1990s. Lim’s creative impulses for his new works is clear, where previously it was “I see and I paint, now it’s I reflect and I paint.” His latest series of calligraphic works reveal a new level of artistic maturity – their raw energy reflect an aggressive swiftness and decisive ferocity, injecting the calligraphy with invigorating tension.
COLLECTIONS
National Gallery Singapore
Lim Tze Peng Art Gallery, Chung Cheng High School
Housing Development Board Singapore
Prime Minister’s Office Singapore
Singapore Airlines
Singapore Art Museum
Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation
United Overseas Bank
Swiss Bank
Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore
Shenn’s Fine Art, Singapore
IBM Singapore Pte Ltd
Lee Kong Chian Art Museum, National University of Singapore
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), Singapore
Channel News Asia
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
From Then to Now: Capturing Life, Ode To Art, Singapore
"A Century of Memories", a virtual exhibition with Ode to Art, Singapore
The Spirit of Ink (墨緣) , Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai, India
Portrait of the Heart (心象) , Ode to Art, Singapore
Evening Climb: The Later Style of Lim Tze Peng, National University of Singapore Museum, Singapore
Solo Exhibition, Impressions, Ode to Art, Singapore
Tze Peng: Songs from the Heart, de Suantio Gallery, Singapore Management University, Singapore
Solo Exhibition, The Journey ( 攀登) , Esplanade –Theatres on the Bay
Lim Tze Peng: A Private Collection, The Private Museum, Singapore
Lim Tze Peng: Black and White, Ode to Art Gallery, Singapore
Tze Peng in Bali, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
Nostalgic Memories of Chinatown – Paintings and Calligraphy by Lim Tze Peng, Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Singapore
My Kampong, My Home, Singapore Management University Gallery, Singapore
The Calligraphic Impulses of Lim Tze Peng, Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Singapore
Inroads: The Ink Journey of Lim Tze Peng, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Lim Tze Peng Solo Exhibition, Ode to Art Gallery, Singapore
Inroads: The Ink Journey of Lim Tze Peng, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Inaugural Exhibition, NTU Art and Heritage Gallery, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Inroads: Lim Tze Peng’s New Ink Work, Art Retreat Museum, Singapore
Lim Tze Peng: Singapore River Memory, Cape of Good Hope Gallery, Singapore
Springtime Echo – Lim Tze Peng Recent Paintings, Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Singapore
Tze Peng in Paris, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
Infinite Gestures-Recent Paintings by Lim Tze Peng, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore
Tze Peng, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Meeting Places in Fleeting Spaces, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Moments by Lim Tze Peng, Takashimaya Gallery, Singapore
2nd Solo Exhibition, National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore
1st Solo Exhibition, Singapore
Nanyang Visionaries: Ten Second Generation Singaporean Artists & Their Innovations in Nanyang Style, ION Art Gallery, Singapore
The Singapore Showcase: Growing Roots and Venturing Beyond, Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Singapore
Celebrating at ION – Living with Art: An Exhibition of Modern and Classic Paintings, ION Art Gallery, Singapore
Highlights of Southeast Asian Collection, NUS Museum, Singapore.
The Society of Chinese Artists 70th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition, Singapore
Crossroads: Collected Works of Second-Generation Artists, NUS Museum, Singapore
65th Anniversary Exhibition of The Society of Chinese Artists, Singapore
Singapore Art Society 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Singapore
The Reflection of Europe, The Society of the Artists, Singapore
CAP III Inkscape, Singapore Artists Directory Exhibition, Empress Place Museum, Singapore, Art in Asia, Singapore Art Fair 1993, Shenn’s Fine Art, Tze Peng by Himself
International Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition, Beijing, China
International Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition, Seoul, South Korea
Contemporary Art in Singapore: Where East Meets West, Tropenmuseum, Amsterdam; Deutsche Bank AG, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Nuremburg; Mannheimer Kunstverein, Mannheim; Federal Republic of Germany
New York Art Expo 89, New York, USA
1st Bru-Sin Art Exhibition 89, National Museum Art Gallery, Brunei
Salon des Artists Francais, Grand Palais, Paris, France
NAFA Lecturers Art Exhibition 88, Singapore
Three-man Art Exhibition, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan
ASEAN Art Exhibition, various ASEAN countries
Eighth International Artists Art Exhibition, Taiwan
Seventh International Artists Art Exhibition, Taiwan
Singapore Calligraphy Exhibition, Singapore
Fifth Festival of Asian Art, Hong Kong
Singapore Artists Group Exhibition, Moscow, Russia
Singapore Historical Monuments Exhibition, Singapore
Royal Overseas League Exhibition, England
Meritorious Service Award, Singapore
Cultural Medallion Award, Singapore
National Day Award (PBM), Singapore
Special Prize, Commonwealth Art Exhibition, England
National Day Award (PPA), Singapore
[Lim Tze Peng’s] life’s work captures the atmosphere of the changing times, as our country developed and urbanised. It opens a window into our nation’s soul, while enriching our heritage, and helping to form an emerging national cultural identity.
PRIME MINISTER LEE HSIENG LOONG, 2021
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"A scene from life can never stand still."
BRIDGET TRACY TAN