Lim Tze Peng

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About the artwork

The Song Dynasty poem entitled 念奴娇·赤壁怀古 or Memories of the Past at Red Cliff was written by 苏轼 (Su Shi) - artist, calligrapher and poet. The original text reads: 大江东去，浪淘尽，千古风流人物。故垒西边，人道是，三国周郎赤壁。乱石穿空，惊涛拍岸，卷起千堆雪。江山如画，一时多少豪杰。遥想公瑾当年，小乔初嫁了，雄姿英发。羽扇纶巾，谈笑间，樯橹灰飞烟灭。故国神游，多情应笑我，早生华发。人生如梦，一樽还酹江月。 Translated, it reads: East flows the mighty river, sweeping away the heroes of times past. This ancient rampart on its western shore is Zhou Yu's Red Cliff of Three Kingdoms’ fame. Here jagged boulders pound the clouds, huge waves tear banks apart and foam piles up like a thousand drifts of snow. A scene fair as a painting, countless are the brave men who have passed through here in times gone by! I dream of Marshal Zhou Yu in his day, with his new bride, the Lord Qiao's younger daughter. Dashing and debonair, silk-capped, with feather fan, he laughed and jested while the dreaded enemy fleet was burned to ashes! In fantasies, through those scenes of old I wander. My heart overflowing, passions laugh at me, a man grey before his time. Ah, this life is a dream, let me drink to the moon on the river!

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.