Born in 1923, Lim Tze Peng is largely a self-taught artist. In his oeuvre, ink paintings and calligraphic works feature prominently, although there is a small number of oils, watercolours and drawings. He created a unique style of ink painting using rich brush and tonal details, and this approach is often regarded as a manifestation of the Nanyang Style in the ink medium. Lim, a school principal until his retirement in the early 1980s, was awarded the Cultural Medallion by the Singapore government in 2003.Lim, who grew up in a ‘kampong’ in Pasir Ris, Singapore, has retained a fascination for the life in rustic villages such as the traditional trades of pot making depicted here. Using an earthy colour palette and complex linework, Lim paints in oils, a medium he learned in the1950s.
