Gerontology Wiki
Gerontology Wiki
Gerontology Wiki
7,820
pages
in: Male centenarians, Singaporean centenarians, 1921 births,
and 6 more

Lim Tze Peng

Sign in to edit
Lim Tze Peng
Birth: 28 September 1921
Pasir Ris, East Region, Singapore (then a British colony)
Death: 3 February 2025
Singapore
Age: 103 years, 128 days
Country: SingaporeSGP
Centenarian

Lim Tze Peng PJG, PPA, PBM [Chinese: 林子平] (28 September 1921 - 3 February 2025) was a Singaporean artist, educator and centenarian.

Biography[]

Background[]

Lim Tze Peng was born in a kampong (village) in Pasir Ris, Singapore on 28 September 1921, the eldest of seven children. His parents reared pigs and chickens and tapped rubber trees.

Lim studied at Guangyang Primary School and Chung Cheng High School. It was during this period when his love for Chinese calligraphy and oil painting was cultivated under the tutelage of art teachers such as Lu Heng, Gao Peize, Wong Jai Ling and Yeh Chi Wei. Lim’s ink paintings, on the other hand, were heavily influenced by Huang Bin Hong.

Lim married Soh Siew Lay and has six children.

In 1949, Lim became a primary school teacher at Xin Min School and then became principal in 1951. He remained as principal till he retired in 1981.

Art works[]

After his retirement in 1981, Lim began painting professionally.

Lim was known for “Muddled Writing” (糊涂字), his series of calligraphy during the late 2000s, which helmed a new stylistic discourse in which form takes precedence over the meaning of the characters. He was also recognised for his “Colour Calligraphy”, which are calligraphic expressions that involve the use of colour pigments – a practice uncommon in traditional Chinese calligraphy.

Lim participated actively in artist field trips around the Southeast Asian region, especially in the 1960s to 1970s with the Ten Men Group. His well-known Bali series was painted during such field trips, mostly in the 1970s and 1980s. The 1970s pieces are recognised by broad washes of opaque, glasslike ink, harmonised with looser compositions as compared to those painted in the 1980s, which are characterised by brisk, deft and definitive lines.

Lim was also known for his Chinese ink paintings of Chinatown and the Singapore River in the early 1980s, when urban redevelopment focused on these two areas.

Accomplishments[]

Lim has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions. His first solo exhibition was held in 1970. Since then, he has exhibited his works widely, both in Singapore and abroad. In 2009, he became the first Singaporean to have a solo exhibition at the National Art Museum of China.

Through donations made by Lim and collectors of his art, a large number of his works have entered the Singapore Art Museum and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

Awards[]

Selected solo exhibitions[]

  • 1970: First solo exhibition, Singapore
  • 1991: Second solo exhibition, National Museum Art Gallery, Singapore
  • 1995: Moments by Lim Tze Peng, Takashimaya Gallery, Singapore
  • 1998: Meeting Places in Fleeting Spaces, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
  • 2003: Tze Peng, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
  • 2006: Infinite Gestures – Recent Paintings by Lim Tze Peng, Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore
  • 2006: Tze Peng in Paris, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
  • 2007: Springtime Echo – Lim Tze Peng Recent Paintings, Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Singapore
  • 2007: Lim Tze Peng: Singapore River Memory, Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Singapore
  • 2008: Inroads, Lim Tze Peng’s New Ink Work, Art Retreat Ltd., Singapore
  • 2009: Inroads: The Ink Journey of Lim Tze Peng, National Art Museum of China and Liu Haisu Art Museum, China
  • 2009: The Calligraphic Impulses of Lim Tze Peng, Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Singapore
  • 2010: My Kampong, My Home, Singapore Management University Gallery, Singapore
  • 2012: Nostalgic Memories of Chinatown – Paintings and Calligraphy by Lim Tze Peng, Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery, Singapore
  • 2012: Lim Tze Peng: Black and White, Ode To Art Gallery, Singapore
  • 2013: Lim Tze Peng: A Private Collection, The Private Museum, Singapore
  • 2014: Tze Peng: Songs from the Heart, de Suantio Gallery, Singapore Management University, Singapore
  • 2015: Impressions by Lim Tze Peng, Ode To Art Gallery, Singapore
  • 2016: Evening Climb: The Later Style of Lim Tze Peng, Lee Kong Chian Gallery, NUS Museum, Singapore
  • 2021: Soul of Ink: Lim Tze Peng at 100 Exhibition, The Arts House, Singapore

Death[]

It was reported by his eldest son, Lim Su Kok, that in January 2025, Lim was hospitalised for Pneumonia. Lim Tze Peng passed away on 3 February 2025, aged 103 years, 128 days.

References[]

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.