About the artwork
This painting depicts the bustling scene of an eating house, in which various sales are occurring between stallholders and patrons. Lim primarily uses earth tone colours such as brown and green in this work, emphasising the rustic nature of his subject and the sense of nostalgia. He uses bold and confident lines to depict the figures in the eating house, giving them definition amidst the washes of colour and highlighting his visual mastery. Lim incorporates both Chinese and Western painting techniques, fusing Chinese ink painting with the Western method of direct observation, and conveys the atmosphere with the exquisite skill that has made him a prolific Singaporean artist and a living legend.
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.