Lim Yew Kuan (b. 1928) is a versatile artist and had embarked on broad explorations in his early artistic practice which includes portraiture, life/nude studies and landscapes in various stylistic modes such as realism, impressionism, post-impressionism and abstraction. They were produced during different phases of the artist’s life between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s. He was a founding President of the Equator Art Society (EAS) in 1956. This Society and its members, which included Lee Boon Wang, Chua Mia Tee, Ong Kim Seng and Koeh Sia Yong, advocated social realism through their artistic practice. Lim was actively involved in the activities of the EAS and produced a considerable number of social realist works including oil paintings and woodcuts. He left Singapore in 1958 to pursue his further studies in the UK. During his "London period" between 1958 and 1961, he underwent academic training and developed his artistic repertoire through creative experiments. "The Back" (1960) is representative of this period. Along with the other nude studies by Lim, it was done in the studio of the Chelsea School as part of his critical academic training. It demonstrates his technical competency in depicting the human body and posture with high accuracy. Stylistically, as compared to another nude study entitled "Monday Blues" (1959) from the same period, "The Back" shows some influences from the British new realist art in the post-World War II era.
