Lim Tze Peng

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About the artwork

云山松子落、多少人未眠 The poem “秋夜寄邱员外” (“On An Autumn Night to Councillor Qiu”) by Wei Yingwu reflects deep emotions of solitude and contemplation, expressed through vivid natural imagery and personal sentiment. Here’s an interpretation of the lines: 云山松子落 (“The pine cones fall from the mountains in the clouds”): This line paints a serene, yet melancholic image of nature. The mountains are high and distant, enveloped in clouds, and the pine cones are falling quietly. This imagery conveys a sense of isolation, suggesting the passage of time in the stillness of nature. 多少人未眠 (“How many people remain sleepless”): This line shifts from nature to a reflection on human emotions. It suggests that many people are lying awake, perhaps restless, burdened by thoughts or emotions. This could also allude to the poet’s own feelings of sleeplessness, resonating with a shared human experience of contemplation during quiet nights. In essence, the poem connects the external scene of autumn and falling pine cones with an internal feeling of unrest. The natural world’s quiet passage mirrors the sleeplessness of those weighed down by thoughts. Wei Yingwu is likely expressing his own emotions of longing or concern as he sends this poem to his friend, Councillor Qiu, sharing in the quiet solitude of an autumn night. The poem reflects the classical theme of finding companionship in shared feelings of isolation or contemplation, a recurring motif in Chinese poetry.

About the artist

Born in Singapore in 1921, Lim Tze Peng is one of Singapore’s most significant artists and a living legend. Renowned for his Chinese ink creations of post-independence Singapore, he also practices Chinese calligraphy. Alongside local and international exhibitions, his masterpieces are exhibited in prominent Singapore institutions and part of many prestigious collections. Lim has been bestowed several awards including the Special Prize at the Commonwealth Art Exhibition in England in 1977 and the prestigious Cultural Medallion in Singapore in 2003. In May 2012, he broke records with the sale of his works at a Christies auction in Hong Kong.