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.Having grown up in a ‘kampong’ (village in Malay), the idyllic life of rural communities is a favourite and recurring theme for Lim. In a bid to recapture the early memories, he has produced countless paintings depicting the life and activities of villagers. Although largely monochromatic, subtle tonal differences create depth in this landscape painting of a typical Malay village.
