Born in Singapore on 28 September 1921, Lim Tze Peng is one of Singapore’s most significant artists and a living legend. Renowned for his Chinese ink drawings and paintings of post-independence Singapore, he also practices Chinese calligraphy. Alongside numerous solo and group exhibitions, both local and international, his masterpieces are exhibited in the Singapore Art Museum and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and are 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.

Even though Lim was born and educated in Singapore, his diligent studies and daily dedication to practicing his craft enabled him to excel in the Chinese ink tradition. His new ink works are deeply rooted in tradition, yet, they have a palpably contemporary feel and can be enjoyed by those who are schooled in other traditions.

Lim is famously known for his Chinese ink drawings and paintings of Chinatown and the Singapore River produced in the early 1980s after having embarked on his artistic journey in the 1950s. His paintings of these landmarks signified and reflected the change these prime locations were undergoing during urban development in Singapore. These paintings are a memory of what Lim saw as a Singaporean watching his kampong transform into an urbanized capital, and documented the cultural diversity and transformation of the city. Lim shows that Singapore's multi-cultural environment may provide a context in which artists can respond to a variety of influences without being trapped in a defensive form of traditionalism or a superficial form of cosmopolitanism. 

Having a solid foundation in Chinese philosophy, art and culture, Lim also practiced Chinese calligraphy, especially in the 1990s. Lim's creative impulses for his new works is clear, where previously it was "I see and I paint, now it's I reflect and I paint." His latest series of calligraphic works reveal a new level of artistic maturity - their raw energy reflect an aggressive swiftness and decisive ferocity, injecting the calligraphy with invigorating tension.


Awards
2016
Meritorious Service Medal at the National Day Awards.

2003
Cultural Medallion Award, Singapore

1981
National Day Award (PBM), Singapore

1977
Special Prize,Commonwealth Art Exhibition, England

1963
National Day Award (PPA), Singapore

Collections 

Housing Development Board Singapore 
Prime Minister's Office Singapore 
Singapore Airline, 
Singapore Art Museum 
Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation 
United Overseas Bank 
Swiss Bank 
Four Seasons Hotel, Singapore 
Shenn's Fine Art, Singapore 
IBM Singapore Pte Ltd 
Lee Kong Chian Art Museum
National University of Singapore 

2025
"Songs Of The River" - Ode To Art, Singapore

2024
"Becoming Lim Tze Peng" - National Gallery Singapore, Singapore

2022
From Then to Now, Capturing Life - Ode to Art, Singapore

2021
Soul of Ink: Lim Tze Peng at 100 - The Arts House, Singapore

2020
A Century of Memories - Ode to Art, Singapore [Digital Exhibition]

2019
墨缘 - The Spirit of Ink, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai, India

2018
Portrait of the Heart -  心象, Ode to Art, Singapore

2016
Evening Climb: The Later Style of Lim Tze Peng, National University of Singapore Museum, Singapore.

2015
Impressions - Ode to Art, Singapore

2014
Larger than Life - Ode to Art, Singapore

2013
 攀登 The Journey - Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay 

2012
Black and White - Ode to Art Gallery, Singapore 
Tze Peng in Bali - Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore 

2010 
My Kampong, My Home - Singapore Management University Gallery, Singapore 

2009 
Inroads: The Ink Journey of Lim Tze Peng - National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 
China Inroads: The Ink Journey of Lim Tze Peng - Liu Haisu Art Museum, Shanghai, China 

2008 
Inaugural Exhibition, NTU Art and Heritage Gallery, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore 
Inroads: Lim Tze Peng's New Ink Work - Art Retreat Museum, Singapore 

2007
Lim Tze Peng: Singapore River Memory - Cape of Good Hope Gallery, Singapore 2006 
Tze Peng in Paris - Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore 
Infinite Gestures-Recent Paintings by Lim Tze Peng - Singapore Tyler Print Institute, Singapore

2003 
Tze Peng - Singapore Art Museum, Singapore