A painter whose style continues to sing

A Gallop in the Galaxy of Colors, a tribute to his endeavors in the realm of ink art over the last eight decades, is being held at the Art Museum of the Beijing Fine Art Academy through to Sunday. The paintings on show were primarily made by the artist in his 80s and 90s, but also include pieces painted during the final days of his life.

Hong Mei, the exhibition's curator and also associate professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, says Liu's accomplishments were closely associated with his investment in the zhihua (finger painting) style.

This particular style of painting is said to have been invented by Gao Qipei, a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) court official and artist. Practitioners use their fingers, and sometimes the edges of their palms, to apply the ink.

Born into a cultured family, Liu learned the basics of Chinese painting and calligraphy from his well-versed parents and maternal uncles. In 1941, he enrolled at the National School of Fine Arts in Chongqing, where he began to train systematically in Chinese painting. He focused mainly on the flower-and-bird genre, and also developed interest in figure painting, and improved under the instruction of his headmaster Pan Tianshou and modern master of art, Lin Fengmian.

Hong says that Liu also made use of calligraphic ways of building up strokes, including the wild, uncommon and messy feeling of caoshu (cursive script), and the mood of power and dignity of lishu (clerical script), and xingshu (running script).