Image size: 28.8 x 38.5 cm
Born in Amoy, China in 1912, Lim Cheng Hoe came to Singapore when he was 7. Primarily a self-taught artist, Lim studied art under Richard Walker, Singapore’s first Art Inspector of Schools, at the Raffles Institution in the early 1930s. Lim was a prominent and significant first generation artist due to his treatment of the local landscape in the watercolour medium. He was also a founding member of the Singapore Watercolour Society. Kampong Scene (1956) presents a shift in perspective when compared to Lim’s compositions from this early period in his artistic practice. The depiction of figures here affords them a larger scale and higher level of detail as Lim fully outlines their forms. The presence of multiple figures also distinguishes this work from others painted in Lim’s oeuvre as he was more inclined to paint a sparse number of miniscule figures set against a larger landscape. The work serves to ground Lim within the context of his surroundings, providing evidence of his engagement with his subjects of representation as opposed to a more detached point of observation.This work was previously in the collection of Chia Yew Kay (1917-1992), who served as Treasurer of the Singapore Art Society from the late-1950s to mid-1960s. His job as a clerk at the British Council placed him in a position to assist with organising various exhibitions for local artists at the British Council Hall in Singapore. Chia maintained a relationship with artists such as Cheong Soo Pieng, Chia Yu Chian, Choy Weng Yang, Lim Cheng Hoe, and Vincent Hoisington.
