A life in the public eye

Yuan Yunfu once said: "I need to summon all my courage to do an exhibition. It is like I'm making a whip, and handing it to the people who come to see my work so that they could 'spur' me on."

Yuan Jia the son says: "My father didn't want lavish compliments from people. He hoped to hear criticism. He'd love to know what else he could do to progress and improve."

The dozens of paintings on display shine a particular light on Yuan's talent for matching colors.

A Thousand Li View of the Yangtze River exemplifies Yuan's smart combination of the cold and warm tones of blue, green and gray, the three dominant colors that make up the painting. It accentuates the splendor of the natural scenery along the Yangtze, in which mountain ranges are engulfed by ascending mist as the sun rises. It also depicts major urban conurbations and man-made structures along the river, beginning with a metropolitan view of Shanghai, continuing past the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge and the Three Gorges before ending in the city of Chongqing.

Yuan produced the landscape in 1972 following a commission for a wall painting to decorate the Beijing Hotel which was then under construction. A native of Nantong, a tranquil town along the Yangtze in Jiangsu province, Yuan had been familiar with the river and its environs since childhood. He wanted to provide a bigger picture of the river and embarked upon a three-month-long journey with three fellow artists, Zhu Danian, Wu Guanzhong and Huang Yongyu.