Singapore River

Plein-air paintings are works which are painted outdoors, capturing scenes as they appear to the painter. Lim often painted plein-air and, for this, preferred watercolour as it dries much faster than oil paint. This allowed him to complete a painting in a single session, but also meant that he had to be very certain of his brushstrokes, even before he started painting.

Lim was part of a group of painters who came together every Sunday to paint. This informal group of artists would often meet at the Singapore River, and this meeting point became the subject of many of their paintings.

The full title of this artwork is Nocturne—Singapore River, which Lim used in his diaries. This not only tells us that the painting is a night scene, but might also hint at how music occurs in Lim’s paintings. Lim was a big fan of music, and often listened to opera, jazz and classical music. Perhaps this painting was inspired by Chopin’s Nocturnes, which Lim listened to. The melancholic mood of those piano pieces is echoed in the washes of colour, which diffuse the scenery and create a muted, introspective look at the Singapore River.