Lim Sew Yong (1943 - )

Lim Sew Yong was born in 1943 in Malaysia and moved to Singapore at age 5. In 1968, she studied art at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and after her graduation enrolled in Nanyang University. Following her interest in the arts, Lim first job was at the then Ministry of Culture, where she organised exhibitions and planned art programmes and she stayed with the ministry for over a decade. In 1992, with the support of the government, Lim founded Raffles Fine Arts Auctioneers, where she was also an Art Valuer and Auctioneer. This was the Singapore’s first art auction house and accommodated the country’s first fine arts auction at the Empress Place Museum in 1992.

Lim does watercolour, acrylic and batik painting, and sometimes pencil sketch as well. Often depicted in her works are fishes, Chinese opera figures, animals and kampong scenes. In 1978, she was awarded the UNESCO Research Fellowship at Silpakorn University and later in 1980, the Creative Award for Batik Painting by the NAFA Alumni Association. She has participated in 5 group exhibitions, including the 25 Years of Art in Singapore exhibition in the National Museum Art Gallery in Singapore in 1984, and showcased her works in 10 remarkable solo exhibitions from 1979 to 2001 in several cities from Taipei to Singapore. The artist has works in the collection of private collectors and organisations around the world, such as Banque Nationale de Paris, Australian National Art Museum and Monetary Authority of Singapore.