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.This calligraphy, one of the large format works by Lim, is written between 2000 and 2002 when he found renewed energy and vigour. It is unlike his previous works which are more restrained and scholarly. This poem by Wang Zhihuan (688-742) is written in the wild cursive script, one of the most expressive in Chinese calligraphy as it allows an artist to inject his emotions.
