Modern masters

Rong Bao Zhai is celebrating its 350th anniversary while the Long Museum in Shanghai marks its first decade this year.

Liu Yiqian, co-founder of the Long Museum, visited Rong Bao Zhai in 2020, when the two institutions decided to collaborate on the joint exhibition and display together, from their respective collections, the artworks of Zhang and Qi.

The institutions have selected "outstanding creations from different phases in the lives of the two artists, aiming to show their respective creative profiles in the early, midlife and late periods", Liu says.

Qi and Zhang are considered two of the most renowned ink artists in China.

Qi was a native of Hunan province and moved to Beijing in 1919, where his art went through major evolution and his style became mature and established. He painted from nature and boldly borrowed from the methods of Chinese calligraphy and depicted everyday objects such as wild plants, insects and fruit with simple and summarizing strokes, developing his distinctive philosophical ideas about art and creation, according to Xie Xiaodong, curator of the show.