Feng Zikai exhibitions offer insight into painter's life

Both the Saving Lives and Paintings for Engou albums are on public viewing for the first time.

"He was by nature an optimistic, compassionate man. He never gave up on hope no matter how difficult life was. He enjoyed life," says Wang.

Feng drank huangjiu (yellow liquor) almost everyday. He loved eating crabs and pasted crab legs on the walls of his house in the formation of a butterfly.

But underneath the easy-going look, he was "a man of perseverance, a tireless advocator of truth, the good and the beautiful", she adds.