Artist inspired by frescoes is a darling of big brands

Oil painting, Autumn Palette, by Liang Yuanwei. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Liang, who was born in Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province, got her bachelor's and master's degrees at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

After she was selected to produce artwork for the Chinese Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennial, she exhibited works in Pace London.

In recent years, Liang has showed great interest in classical European art and traditional Chinese art, especially that from before the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

In late August, she will go to Dunhuang, the home of China's largest Buddhist art trove in the caves of Gansu province, to learn about fresco art of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Liang says she wants to study Chinese literati art, or wenrenhua－an art form used by Chinese scholar-painters, who were interested in personal expression.