Red Deer. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Shi Lu produced the painting in 1959, and it is now on permanent display at the National Museum of China's central hall.

The donation also comprises eight of the "mystic" paintings Shi Lu did in the 1970s. He then had suffered a mental breakdown, and layered strong colors on some figure paintings he had produced in the 1950s.

Shi Dan says a public museum is the best place to keep her father's artistic legacy complete and alive.

Meanwhile, a booming art market has not only pushed up the prices of Shi Lu's works but also encouraged forgeries.

"We, the family is incapable of stopping all the faking. But what we can do is to have my father's art well studied, exhibited and cataloged with the assistance of museums and other public institutions," says Shi Dan.

"Only when more people see what his works look like will the copies disappear."