‘Central canon in Singapore art’: President Tharman attends artist Lim Tze Peng’s wake

SINGAPORE – President Tharman Shanmugaratnam attended the wake of artist Lim Tze Peng on Feb 5, paying tribute to the ink master whose body of work “will always be a central canon in Singapore art and culture”, he said.

The Cultural Medallion recipient died on Feb 3 at age 103, after being hospitalised for pneumonia in January.

Mr Tharman and his spouse, Ms Jane Ittogi, arrived at Chapel Hall at The Garden Of Remembrance in Old Choa Chu Kang Road at 2.25pm.

In his remarks to the media, Mr Tharman emphasised how Mr Lim continuously transcended his own artistic boundaries.

“It wasn’t just about capturing the past and preserving it for the future – because Lim Tze Peng’s belief in using art to cultivate the soul of our people was also reflected in the way he kept changing, kept challenging himself, kept even breaking his own mould,” he said.

Mr Tharman, who stayed for 40 minutes to speak with Mr Lim’s family and friends, noted that the artist’s work evolved from scenes of old Singapore to abstraction, even combining calligraphy and abstract art eventually.

Beyond Mr Lim’s artistic achievement, Mr Tharman said his work also “expressed his love for, his cherishing of his country and its people”.

Mr Tharman added: “He’s a remarkable person and you remember him both because he was his own person and his art was his own, (and) because it also became part of our own Singapore culture.”

More than 60 people attended the wake on the afternoon of Feb 5. They included Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung, former People’s Action Party MP and artist Ho Kah Leong, as well as artist and director of Cape of Good Hope Art Gallery Terence Teo.

Mr Ong told The Straits Times he first met Mr Lim at Chung Cheng High School’s 80th school anniversary dinner in 2019 and had kept in touch with him after that, occasionally visiting the artist’s home.

He said: “When I first knew him, we spoke mostly in Chinese. As the years went by, as he crossed 100 (years old), he spoke only in Hokkien.”

He added: “I admire him for constantly innovating even at a very old age. Every 10 years, his style will change and you won’t even recognise his work. Singapore lost an icon yet we gained so much from having him.”

Mr Lim Su Kok, the artist’s eldest son, said of the afternoon’s guests: “The principals and people who attended the wake told me that my father had a very honourable departure. It is an affirmation of his life’s achievements.”

Mr Lim Tze Peng, who had been Singapore’s oldest living artist, is best known for his Chinese ink scenes of old Chinatown and the Singapore River, as well as his distinctive calligraphic idiom termed “muddled writing”. He received the Cultural Medallion, Singapore’s highest arts accolade, in 2003.

The eldest of seven children, he was born in Singapore in 1921 and grew up in a kampung in Pasir Ris. From a young age, he practised Chinese ink daily but received belated recognition in the form of his first solo exhibition in 1970.

His works are collected by the likes of pioneer architect Koh Seow Chuan. Currently, there are 299 of his works in the national collection, including one in the Istana Art Collection. His art can be viewed at the National Gallery Singapore’s solo exhibition Becoming Lim Tze Peng until March 23.

The news of the artist’s death was met with an outpouring of tributes from leaders, gallerists and art lovers.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said on Facebook on Feb 3 that “Singapore has lost one of its most significant artists”, adding that the artist’s contributions to the cultural landscape were “immeasurable”.