Portrait of T. Y. Choy

Lim Cheng Hoe (1912-1979) was born in Amoy, China and came to Singapore when he was 7. Primarily a self-taught artist, Lim studied art under Richard Walker, Singapore's first Art Inspector of Schools, at the Raffles Institution in the early 1930s. Lim was a prominent and significant first generation artist due to his treatment of the local landscape in the watercolour medium and is associated with the Nanyang Style. He was also a founding member of the Singapore Watercolour Society. Lim passed away in 1979 in Singapore. Mr. T.Y. Choy, a dedicated school teacher as well as an accomplished watercolourist, often joined Lim and other members of the Singapore Watercolour Society in their outdoor painting sessions. Under Lim's keen eyes, Choy�'s spare frame and resolute gaze are captured with deft translucent glazes applied with the barest economy of brush strokes.