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 used to travel around the region on painting trips, stopping only in recent years due to age. Although he has been fascinated by trees throughout his artistic career, at around the turn of the century, they began to dominate the compositions. In ‘Thai Woods’ the use of a light palette for the background, perhaps to suggest morning sun, provides contrast and clearly delineates the outstretched branches, sinewy trunks and intertwining roots that are painted in dark, broad brushstrokes.
