Chinese ink painting has a history of thousands of years and has been developed into many styles by many painters. Today, we are going to introduce one of the ink painting masters Li Hu, who melted western techniques into the Chinese traditional art form. An exhibition, called 'Four Stanzas on Aspiration', is being held in Beijing to commemorate the artist. Li Qiong reports.

The exhibition is a way to commemorate late Chinese artist Li Hu, as 2019 marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.

In a generation that has witnessed China's war period, as well as post-war reconstruction, Li had spent his whole life depicting the country's important changes.

The stories in his works are unique, so are Li's painting techniques.

CAO QINGHUI CURATOR "In this piece, Li Hu used western painting techniques during the whole process from sketching to the final color ink painting. When he did the sketches, he used western perspectives. But all the materials were of traditional Chinese color ink painting. Unlike oil painting paper, the rice paper is quite thin. In order to present light and shade, the artist drew on both sides of the paper."

Li's career was largely influenced by his teacher Xu Beihong, a Chinese ink painting master who had spent years studying art in Europe.

Western ways of painting could always be found in Li's works. He combined the techniques from both cultures and experimented with them in his creations.

LI QIAONG BEIJING "Night scenes are rarely depicted by Chinese ink painters historically, because landscapes in darkness are hard to express with ink. But Li Hu has developed his own way of drawing night time scenes, combining techniques from both Chinese ink painting and western oil painting."

According to curator Cao Qinghui, traditional Chinese ink painting doesn't focus on light much. It's more about artistic conception.

So the series of night scenes are seen as another breakthrough by Li, who used light and shadow in ink painting to set a specific time of a day.

Quite a number of Li's manuscripts are collected in the exhibition, displaying the artist's thoughts and steps in his creation process.

CAO QINGHUI CURATOR "Li Hu was very strict with himself in his working procedure. Each step was specific. We couldn't say that his color ink painting is an art piece, while the initial sketch was just a process to it. Quite the opposite, his sketches all carry aesthetic value."

The exhibition 'Four Stanzas on Aspiration' runs through January 3 at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. LQ, CGTN, BJ.