Wu Guanzhong is one of the best known contemporary painters of Chinese origin. Now 90, Wu Guanzhong has published collections of essays and dozens of painting albums. His creative combination of Chinese painting styles and Western skills is regarded as a valuable contribution to Chinese art history. Recently, his personal picture exhibition was held in the National Art Museum.

Here is our reporter Zhong Qiu.

At the end of February, the National Art Museum launched an exhibition called Cultivation and Dedication—Donated Works of Wu Guanzhong. Besides some 180 works of the artist, the museum also displayed relevant documents and photos to further illustrate Wu Guanzhong's achievements in his 70-year painting career. Qian Linxiang is the vice curator of the museum.

"Mr. Wu sees art as his life. Enthusiastic and creative, he has paid constant effort in pursuing his art dream. Wu Guanzhong has learned both Chinese wash painting and Western oil painting. His combination of the two is regarded as a unique contribution to Chinese art."

In 1919, Wu Guanzhong was born in a small county in eastern China's Zhejiang province. When he was 17, he passed the entrance exam for a technical school in Hangzhou. A year later, he transferred to the National Arts Academy of Hangzhou. There, he studied painting with famous artist Lin Fengmian, who is considered a pioneer in modern Chinese painting. Wu Guanzhong recalls that experience.

"He taught me both Chinese and Western drawing, which was very helpful. When you jump out of a culture you have learned for a long time and study something brand new for a while, you can have a more comprehensive and objective understanding of what you learned before. For thousands of years, Chinese people just concentrated on our traditional art, so we were just copying each other. There was not much difference among the paintings of various ages."

In 1947, Wu Guanzhong traveled to Paris for further study on a government scholarship. His professor, Jean Souverbie, influenced Wu deeply, both in painting skills and career goals.

"He told me that there are two ways for artists. One is the small path, which means this kind of art can please people. The other is the wide avenue. Such art can shock people. I chose the second as my way."

Wu Guanzhong studied in Paris for 3 years and was considered a talented student. After graduation, he had to choose whether to stay in France or go back to his motherland. Then he read a letter Vincent Van Gogh wrote to his brother. This artist suggested his brother go back home by using a metaphor in which the brother is wheat and his homeland is the fertile farmland.

In 1950, Wu Guanzhong returned to China to teach art. The three-year overseas study helped him understand the essence of Western modern art. At that time, Wu Guanzhong focused on oil paintings. He used Western skills to draw typical Chinese towns and villages.