An activist's art

The Beijing exhibition features works by He Xiangning, including her iconic work, Lion. CHINA DAILY

Yu said He then began to adopt a reduced color palette and sought to showcase varied presentations by layering shades of ink.

Yu said the change in He's works displayed simplicity and were indicative of a manner unique to the tradition of classical Chinese literati paintings; her brushwork expressed her anger over the setbacks in the revolutionary cause and the concerns she had about her country.

He's vivid palette returned in the 1950s and '60s to reflect her joy at a booming scene of socialist constructions across China.

Yi E, a senior researcher at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, says He's collaboration with established painters, including those working at the Beijing Fine Art Academy, reached its peak in the 1950s. And when she traveled south to Shanghai, Nanjing in Jiangsu province or Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, to escape the winters in North China, she would co-create paintings with artists there, including Huang Binhong, Pan Tianshou and Fu Baoshi, which brought her great delight.

He was elected chairperson of the China Artists Association in 1960.Her passion for painting lasted until late in her life.

"It (painting) won't tire me," He once said to her family. "I've been painting all my life. I feel happiest right now."

Yu said every time she visited He Xiangning, she would show paintings she coproduced with prominent artists.

"There were always half-done paintings on her desk which depicted a pine tree, a stone or a plum branch," Yu said.

"She said, 'I'm too weak to finish (the paintings). I will be happy if other painters could complete them for me.'"

Contact the writer at linqi@chinadaily.com.cn