A life in the public eye

"Compared to Yuan's major works that are much larger, these gouaches equally demonstrate the scope and intensity of his understanding of art."

Yuan Yunfu held one-man exhibitions at the country's three top museums, the Palace Museum, the National Museum of China and the National Art Museum of China.

The original piece of A Thousand Li View of the Yangtze River, completed in 1973, was added to the Palace Museum's collection when he held a solo show there in 2012. The painting was featured on a set of nine stamps issued by China Post in 2014.

At the opening of his one-man exhibition held at the National Museum of China, in 2015, Yuan Yunfu said: "An artist must tell the truth. He makes a lifelong attempt to get closer to beauty, and to discover an inherent kindness in the soul of humankind."

If you go

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays, through Oct 7. Tsinghua University, Haidian district.

010-6278-1012