About the artwork
Lim Tze Peng writes the characters from 游子吟 or Song of the Travelling Son by Meng Jiao (751 - 814) a poet in the Tang Dynasty tradition. The entire poem reads: 慈母手中线,游子身上衣。临行密密缝,意恐迟迟归。谁言寸草心,报得三春晖。 Translated, it says: Needle and thread in doting mother’s hand, turning out garments for her son who ventures out to roam the land. She puts in more stitches even as he leaves, and frets that his homecoming may be pushed further back. 'Who,' says the inch-tall blade of grass, can ever repay the warm sunshine of spring?'
About the artist
Born in Singapore in 1921, Lim Tze Peng is one of Singapore’s most significant artists and a living legend. Renowned for his Chinese ink creations of post-independence Singapore, he also practices Chinese calligraphy. Alongside local and international exhibitions, his masterpieces are exhibited in prominent Singapore institutions and 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.