{{Short description|Singaporean artist (1893–1963)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}} {{family name hatnote|Lín (林)|lang=Chinese}} {{Infobox artist | name = Lim Hak Tai | native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|zh-hans|林学大}}}}<br><small>{{post-nominals|list=SK}}</small> | image = Lim Hak Tai, 1949.png | image_size = | caption = Lim in 1949 | birth_date = 28 May 1893 | birth_place = Amoy (now Xiamen), Fujian, Qing China | death_date = {{death date and age |df=yes|1963|2|14|1893|5|18}} | death_place = Singapore | field = Oil Painting, Drawing, Chinese ink painting, | training = Fuzhou Provincial Art Teacher's Training College<br>Amoy Art Teacher's College | awards = '''1962''': Sijil Kemuliaan (Certificate of Honour) }}
'''Lim Hak Tai''', {{post-nominals|list=SK}} ({{zh|s=林学大|zh|t=林學大|p=Lín Xué Dà|poj=Lîm Ha̍k-tāi}}; 28 May 1893 – 14 February 1963) 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' (South-east Asia) region, both in painting style and subject matter.<ref name="artspioneer">{{cite news|title=Hak Tai points the way|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19810228-1.2.114.13.1|work=The Straits Times|date=28 February 1981}}</ref>
== Early life and education == Lim was born on 28 May 1893 in Xiamen, Fujian Province, China.<ref name="infopedia">{{cite news |title=Lim Hak Tai |work=Singapore Infopedia |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2014-12-02_123238.html}}</ref> Lim left Xiamen in 1913 to study at Fuzhou, Fujian and graduated from the Fujian Provincial Teachers' Training College in 1916.<ref name="infopedia" />
== Career == [[File:LimHakTai.jpg|thumb|Bust of Lim at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts]] After graduation, Lim returned to Xiamen and taught at various schools.<ref name="infopedia" /> In 1923, Lim co-founded the Xiamen Academy of Fine Arts with two other artists.<ref name="infopedia" />
Lim came to Singapore at the outbreak of Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937, and taught art at The Chinese High School and Nan Chiau Girls High School for a year.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} In 1938, Lim and other artists founded Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lim Hak Tai {{!}} Infopedia |url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2014-12-02_123238.html |access-date=2023-01-20 |website=eresources.nlb.gov.sg}}</ref> and he was appointed as its principal<ref name="artspioneer" />
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.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} 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 1952, developing what is known today as the Nanyang School of Painting.<ref name="lht1">{{cite news | title = Top draw : first-generation artists|newspaper =Straits Times| location = Singapore |date = 2006-08-17}}</ref>
Lim was conferred with the Sijil Kemuliaan (Certificate of Honour) for his outstanding achievements for the Academy, and the society on 3 June 1962.<ref>{{cite news|title=National Day Honours|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19620603-1.2.12|work=The Straits Times|date=3 June 1962}}</ref> He was the first artist to be conferred the award by the Singapore Government. Lim died on 14 February 1963 due to lung cancer.<ref>{{cite news|title=Art school principal dies at 70|url=https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19630217-1.2.107|work=The Straits Times|date=17 February 1963}}</ref>
==Gallery== <gallery> 林学大作品.jpg|Lim Hak Tai painting 新加坡艺术博物馆藏林学大作品.jpg|Singapore Art Museum 林.jpg|Lim Hak Tai painting follower 林学大书法.jpg|Lim Hak Tai calligraphy </gallery>
== See also == * Chen Chong Swee * Cheong Soo Pieng * Liu Kang * Georgette Chen
==References== {{Reflist}}
== Further reading == * [http://www.nafa.edu.sg/in_aboutus/nafa/history.htm History of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050320075710/http://nafahub.com/nanyi/enanyi/eschool/ealumni/edefault_01.htm NAFA Alumni Association] * Pameran retrospektif pelukis-pelukis Nanyang : Muzium Seni Negara Malaysia 26hb. Okt. - 23hb. Dis. 1979 (Nanyang artists retrospective exhibition : National Arts Museum of Malaysia 26 October - 23 December 1979) (art catalogue)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Hak Tai}} Category:1893 births Category:1963 deaths Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Singapore Category:Singaporean people of Hokkien descent Category:20th-century Singaporean painters Category:Chinese emigrants to British Malaya