Lim Hak Tai

Who was Lim Hak Tai?

Lim Hak Tai was one of Singapore's pioneer artist at the turn of the 20th century, and was the person who inspired the Nanyang School of art form, to reflect the 'Nanyang' region, both in painting style and subject matter.

Born in Xiamen, Fujian Province in China, Lim graduated from the Provincial Art Teacher's Training College in Fuzhou in 1916, and went on to the Amoy Art Teacher's College specialising in Western and Chinese art. He came to Singapore at the outbreak of Sino-Japan War in 1937, and taught art at The Chinese High School and Nan Chiau Girls High School for a year. In 1938, he was appointed as the first principal of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.

Lim was a dedicated art educator and an accomplished painter in Singapore, and have taught many art students - some on to becoming accomplished Singaporean artists. He was also the first to articulate the notion of a 'Nanyang style' art that involved local and South-east Asian tropical representations using Western painting techniques. As such, Lim persuaded his peers Cheong Soo Pieng, Chen Wen Hsi, Chen Chong Swee and Liu Kang to seek inspiration from their Balinese excursion in 1953, developing what is known today as the Nanyang School of Painting.