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Lim Tze Peng

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2003 Cultural Medallion Recipient For Art

Biography

Lim Tze Peng (b. 28 September 1921, Singapore - present), artist, winner of the Cultural Medallion in 2003, first established his art practice in the early 1950s with a series of oil paintings on Chinese landscapes.


He is best known for the significant number of Chinese ink drawings and paintings of Chinatown and the Singapore River he produced during the early 1980s when urban redevelopment focused on these two areas. Heavily surrounded Having a solid foundation in Chinese philosoby the growth of modernism and urbbanization in Singapore, Lim documents the cultural diversity and transformation of the city Having a solid foundation in Chinese philosophy, art and culture, Lim also practised Chinese calligraphy, especially in the 1990s. 

I

n 2009, Lim Tze Peng had his solo exhibition in the prestigious Beijing and Liu Hai Su Museum of Shanghai.

Even though Lim was born and educated in Singapore, his diligent studies and daily dedication to practising 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 shows that Singapore’s multi-cultural environment may provide a context in which artists can respond to a variety of influences without being rapped in a defensive form of traditionalism or a superficial form of cosmopolitanism.

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 an invigorating tension.

Early Life

Lim was educated at Chung Cheng High School. Upon graduation, he became a teacher in Xin Min School in 1949. In 1951, he became principal of the school where he remained until 1981.


Accomplishments

Lim participated actively in artist field trips around the Southeast Asian region in the 1960s. From the 1970s onwards, he has participated in several exhibitions - solo and group. His first solo exhibition was in 1970. Since then, he has exhibited his works widely in Singapore and abroad. He held three solo exhibitions in the 1990s and  has participated in more than 20 group exhibitions to date. In the last four years, significant donations of his works have entered the Singapore Art Museum and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts through the artist and his collectors. For his contributions to art, Lim has received several awards including the Cultural Medallion in 2003.


Collections

Housing Development Board Singapore

Prime Minister’s Office Singapore

Singapore Airline, 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

Awards

2003 Cultural Medallion Award, Singapore
1981 National Day Award (PBM), Singapore
1977 Special Prize,Commonwealth Art Exhibition, England
1963 National Day Award (PPA), Singapore

Solo Exhibitions

2012 Black and White, Ode to Art Gallery, Singapore
Tze Peng in Bali, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
2010 My Kampong, My Home, Singapore Management University Gallery, Singapore
2009 Inroads:The Ink Journey of Lim Tze Peng, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, China
Inroads:The Ink Journey of Lim Tze Peng, Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China
2008 Inaugural Exhibition, NTU Art and Heritage Gallery, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
Inroads: Lim Tze Peng’s New Ink Work, Art Retreat Museum, Singapore
2007 Lim Tze Peng: Singapore River Memory, Cape of Good Hope Gallery, Singapore
2006 Tze Peng in Paris, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
Infinite Gestures-Recent Paintings by Lim Tze Peng, Singapore Tyler Print Institute,Singapore
2003 Tze Peng,Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
1998 Meeting Places in Fleeting Spaces, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
1995 Moments by Lim Tze Peng, Takashimaya Gallery, Singapore
1991 2nd Solo Exhibition, National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore
1970 1st Solo Exhibition, Singapore

Group Exhibitions

2005 The Society of Chinese Artists 70th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition, Singapore
2004 Crossroads: Collected Works of Second-Generation Artists, NUS Museum, Singapore
2000 65th Anniversary Exhibition of The Society of Chinese Artists, Singapore
1999 Singapore Art Society 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Singapore
1993 CAP III Inkscape, Singapore Artists Directory Exhibition, Empress Place Museum,Singapore
1991 International Chinese Calligraphy Exhibition, Beijing, China
1989 New York Art Expo 89, New York, USA
1st Bru-Sin Art Exhibition 89, National Museum Art Gallery, Brunei
1988 Salon des Artists Francais, Grand Palais, Paris, France
NAFA Lecturers Art Exhibition 88, Singapore
1986 ASEAN Art Exhibition, various ASEAN countries
1982 Seventh International Artists Art Exhibition, Taiwan
1980 Fifth Festival of Asian Art, Hong Kong
1978 Singapore Artists Group Exhibition, Moscow, Russia
1977 Royal Overseas League Exhibition, England



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