Lim Hak Tai (1893–1963) was born in Xiamen to a Qing dynasty scholar and teacher. Skilled in Western oil painting as well as Chinese ink painting, he grew up in China during a period racked by civil unrest and poverty. He left Xiamen in 1913 to enrol in the Fujian Provincial Teachers’ Training College in Fuzhou. After graduating in 1915 with a certificate in applied arts, he taught at No. 13 High School in Fujian and several schools in Jimei.

Chong Pai Mu, Portrait of Lim Hak Tai, 1940. Oil on canvas, 70 x 90 cm. Gift of Tay Long c/o Straits Commercial Art Co. 65 Stamford Road, National Gallery Singapore Collection, courtesy of National Heritage Board.

Following the May Fourth Movement (1919) in China, there was great demand for art training. Riding on this wave of interest, Lim co-founded the Xiamen Academy of Fine Arts in 1923 with fellow artists Huang Suibi (1879–1937) and Yang Gengtang (birth and death years unknown).1

He arrived in Singapore sometime between 1936 and 1937, a move that has been attributed to various reasons, ranging from the imminent Second Sino-Japanese War to him taking up a teaching post at The Chinese High School in Singapore.2

Lim set up the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in 1938, with support from businessman Tan Khuat Siong (1900–1965) – second son of philanthropist Tan Kah Kee – and the Society of Chinese Artists. It was modelled after Chinese art schools which balanced Western and Chinese art traditions.3

Setting up NAFA

Lim felt strongly that Chinese artists in Southeast Asia should integrate Western and Chinese styles to depict local subjects — a style known as Nanyang art. “Nanyang”, which means “Southern Seas” in Chinese, refers to Southeast Asia. The new academy would champion this style of art.

On 10 March 1938, NAFA opened with just 14 students in a shophouse at 167 Geylang Road. Its curriculum was similar to that of Xiamen Academy of Fine Arts, with classes in Western painting, sculpture, Chinese art and more.

After setting up the school, Lim, then 45 years old, asked his wife and children to join him. Unfortunately, his wife died on the journey to Singapore. While he dealt with this heavy blow, Lim struggled to keep NAFA afloat as it grappled with low enrolment and a shortage of teachers and funds. To help pay for the school’s expenses, Lim also taught at Chinese High and Nanyang Girls’ High on the side. His five children joined him in late 1938.

NAFA’s first cohort of four Western-art students successfully graduated in 1940. To accommodate an increase in student numbers, which had risen to 50, the academy moved to a bungalow at 93 Serangoon Road.4

More teachers escaping war in China came to Singapore and joined the academy. Lim was able to open more classes, including lessons on art theory, music, and cartoon drawing. NAFA flourished during this period, but danger would soon be upon its staff and students.

Lim Hak Tai, Tanjong Rhu, 1952. Oil on board, 40.5 x 50.5 cm. National Gallery Singapore Collection, courtesy of National Heritage Board.

Turbulent times

The start of the Japanese Occupation in 1942 led NAFA, a known anti-Japanese base, to close its doors. Lim himself took part in resistance efforts but kept a low profile. Unfortunately, his eldest son, Yew Ming, was killed by the Japanese in 1943.5

Lim kept the rest of his family safe until the Japanese surrendered in 1945. NAFA reopened in 1946 in a bungalow in St Thomas Walk. It was the only pre-war art school on the island that survived World War II. The 1950s, however, marked the start of fresh problems for NAFA. Lim sought financial support from the Ministry of Education but was only granted funding equivalent to that of primary schools.6In 1952, during the Malayan Emergency, the authorities also stopped recognising the academy’s art education diploma.7

Despite the challenges, school fees were kept affordable, and some needy students were exempted from paying them. Lim carried out many fund-raising activities, and there were times when he and the school’s board of directors even used their own money to keep the school going.

Pioneers of Nanyang art

As NAFA’s principal, Lim stressed to staff and students that their works should represent the reality of the place they lived in. He encouraged them to explore Singapore and the region.

One such excursion was a landmark trip to Bali, Indonesia in 1952 by NAFA teachers – and pioneers of Nanyang art – Cheong Soo Pieng (1917–1983), Chen Wen Hsi (1906–1991), and Chen Chong Swee (1910–1985). They were joined by artist Liu Kang (1911–2004). An array of acclaimed works responding to Bali’s culture and landscape emerged as a result of that trip. In 1954, Lim recruited artist Georgette Chen (1906–1993), adding to the list of Nanyang pioneer artists who taught at the academy.

Lim refined his views on Nanyang art over the years. In 1955, he articulated six precepts for young artists in Nanyang:8

  1. Integrating the cultures and customs of the various races
  2. Fusion of the art of the East and the West
  3. Developing the spirit of science and current social thinking of the 20th century
  4. Reflecting popular demands of local people
  5. Expressing the local flavour through art
  6. Emphasising the educational and functions of fine art

Nanyang art — a diverse category spanning oil paintings, Chinese ink works and more – continued to mature in Singapore, enjoying a “golden period” till the mid-1960s.9

Tan Kian Por and Lim Hak Tai, Seal Stamps of Lim Hak Tai with Calligraphy by Tan Kian Por, 2011. Ink on rice paper, 67.5 x 32.5 cm. Gift of Lim Yew Kuan, National Gallery Singapore Collection, courtesy of National Heritage Board.

A living legacy

Lim died in 1963 at the age of 69. His second son Lim Yew Kuan (1928–2021) — a NAFA graduate himself — took over as the academy’s principal after that.

Lim Hak Tai was known more for his contributions as an educator rather than an artist. He was not as prolific as some of his peers and never held a solo exhibition during his lifetime. This was partly due to his poor health — he had contracted tuberculosis in the mid-1950s. Only about 100 of his works, most of them oil paintings, are known.10A year before his death, Lim was awarded the prestigious Certificate of Honour (Sijil Kemuliaan). There was a posthumous exhibition of his art in 1991, and another exhibition showcasing 50 of his oil, acrylic and Chinese ink works was held to celebrate NAFA’s 70th anniversary.11

Lim’s legacy is far-reaching. Over the years, NAFA has produced numerous alumni who have shaped the country’s arts landscape, ranging from painters Lim Yew Kuan, Chua Mia Tee, Lai Kui Fang (1936–2022), Lee Boon Wang (1934–2016) and Tan Choh Tee — founding members of the Equator Art Society (1956–1972) — to pioneering musician Lucien Wang (1909–2007), and sculptors Ng Eng Teng (1934–2001) and Han Sai Por. More recently, NAFA and Lasalle College of the Arts joined forces to form the University of the Arts Singapore, which is slated to open in August 2024.