Lim Tze Peng

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About the artwork

Lim Tze Peng writes the text of 临江仙 by Yang Shen (1488 - 1559) - a poet in the Ming Dynasty. The text reads: 滚滚长江东逝水, 浪花淘尽英雄。是非成败转头空。青山依旧在，几度夕阳红。白发渔樵江渚上， 惯看秋月春风。一壶浊酒喜相逢。古今多少事，都付笑谈中。 Translated, it reads: The rolling Yangtze River flows to the east without turning back, heroes - like rippling waves - disappear. Whether or not they succeed or fail, they are gone in the blink of an eye. Only the mountain continues to exist, and varying degrees of sunrise and sunset. The white-haired fisherman observes the passing of the seasons from the river bank. A jar of liquor brings happy encounters - of the many events that have transpired from the past to the present, they have all become subjects of jokes and conversation. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty from (AD 25 - 220), the Chinese empire was divided amongst three big kingdoms under the dominion of warlords Cao Pi, Sun Quan and Liu Bei who engaged in violent attacks against each other. The Story of the Three Kingdoms or 三国演义 is a historic tale that has been popularised in operas, folk stories and novels.

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.