When art gets a dose of generosity

The exhibition Sincere Heart and Flying Dreams features Fu Juanfu's paintings and his collection of works by such established modern artists as Feng Zikai (above) and Zheng Yuebo. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The section also features works by painters with whom Fu teamed up to establish several painting and calligraphy societies in Taiwan.

Fu's artworks and his collection were first exhibited at the Zhejiang Art Museum from July to August 2016.

During that time, Liu Yong, a writer, painter and collector from Taipei who lives in New York, read about the show in a newspaper.

Liu, whose father hails from Lin'an, Zhejiang, then donated 31 paintings by modern ink artists to the museum in October. The paintings include works by prominent figures such as Ren Bonian, Zhang Daqian, Fu Baoshi and Huang Junbi.

And, a month later, these works were on show at the Zhejiang museum.

Si Shunwei, director of the Zhejiang Art Museum, hopes that the two displays will create "a chain effect" encouraging more donations.

Though many public museums are granted funds to boost their collections, museums are unable to compete in a booming art market.