Tribute to an artistic pioneer

The ink-brush paintings are among the works by Guan Shanyue on show at the ongoing exhibition Infinite Ranges of Mountains at the National Museum of China in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Guan embraced the same spirit throughout a career spanning several decades.

His paintings at the current exhibition show his pursuit to always put people's agonies and happiness at the center of his creations.

For example, during the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), he traveled a lot and his ink-brush paintings, done in his studio, showed the plight of war victims.

In Fate of Invaders, one of the paintings on display, Guan depicts a tragic snowy scene after a heated battle: Two vultures are on a tree branch and below them a helmet of a Japanese soldier dangles on a wire fence.

Speaking about the work, art critic Xue Yongnian says: "He didn't directly portray a battle. He took a poetic approach to what his people were suffering and to tell people that the invaders were bound to surrender."

Guan Yi says the painter often packed his war paintings in a bag and carried with him whenever he traveled, so that he could exhibit them.