Exhibition at National Art Museum pays homage to artist's talent, versatility and innate honesty, Lin Qi reports.

Visitors appreciate the extensive work of the late artist Yang Gang at A Journey to Freedom, an exhibition at the National Art Museum in Beijing. It runs until Sunday. (JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY)

In the twilight of his life, Yang Gang, who had been diagnosed with cancer, told people that he dreamed of holding a solo exhibition at the National Art Museum of China to present his art and showcase his career spanning several decades.

Aged 73, Yang died in April 2019, and unfortunately didn't get to see his wish fulfilled.

Thanks to the efforts of his family and friends, along with colleagues at Beijing Fine Art Academy where he was a resident painter, A Journey to Freedom, which runs at the National Art Museum until Sunday, unveils the comprehensive scope of Yang's art. This aspect of his oeuvre－the full extent of his art－has, thus far, remained in the shadow of his former schoolmates at the High School Affiliated to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, such as Ai Xuan and Wang Huaiqing.

The exhibition was named by Yang himself as an expression of "his exploration of the world of art with no confinement to rigid doctrines, and sourcing inspiration from the cultural traditions of the East and the West and of the past and the present", says Dong Zhenghe, Yang's wife and a calligrapher in her own right.

Grassland Wedding is another painting on display. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

On show are some 160 artworks that reflect Yang's versatility, sincerity and modesty. His family donated 30 pieces to the National Art Museum at the exhibition's opening.

Yang trained to be a painter of the gongbi style at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. This discipline in classical painting is marked by a realist approach and a careful attention to detail. Then he ventured into the realm of oil painting and created a distinguished body of work depicting his experiences on the grasslands of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Yang spent several years in Inner Mongolia in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He joined the traveling performance troupes as they ventured into the remote grasslands. He observed the daily life of herdsmen, painted them and formed close bonds with their communities. His paintings, featuring a highly saturated palette, accentuate a poetic, serene atmosphere.

Visitors admire A Lad From Beijing by Yang Gang. (JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY)

Meanwhile, he further explored ink art. He introduced the formalist and abstract styles of modern Western art, and infused them with the xieyi (presenting the spirit) approach of Chinese painting. He produced an output of ink works that demonstrate a modern touch, yet imbued with the spirituality of Chinese calligraphy.

Wu Hongliang, head of Beijing Fine Art Academy, describes Yang as "an artist who shunned exposure to the media and public attention, even when his work was on show, but whose talent is recognized by his peers in the art world".

"He was genuine. He spared no effort to show his honesty and energy to onlookers and through his work. And he worked so hard. I feel that he painted almost every day," Wu says. "He reminds me of another industrious master artist of 20th-century China, Qi Baishi, who felt he was not being himself if he went just one day without painting. I think Yang was the same kind of person who was so completely devoted to art."

Herdsmen in Yang's painting, After Rain. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Alongside his painting work, Yang took in students. One of them, Wang Yingsheng, painted under the guidance of Yang for more than three decades. Wang says that his teacher was true to himself and others, innocent and not bound by mundane rules and concerns.

"Sometimes when he saw work by a young artist and quite liked it, he exchanged it with his own. He didn't feel the privilege of being a well-established artist, nor that his work carried more value," Wang says.

He says Yang was the kind of man who did more and talked less. "He never changed, in spite of the achievements in his creation and social status. When his old friends, or those herdsmen he knew from Inner Mongolia, came to visit him in Beijing, they carried on their friendship as before.

"He was born to paint. His spirit will never stop its journey to freedom."

Contact the writer at linqi@chinadaily.com.cn