A painting of the Forbidden City by Xu Shendong is part of one of the three series of his ongoing show. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The wild brushwork and bright colors give an unreal feeling to Xu Shendong's paintings. The expressiveness of his oil and ink works remind one of such Western master artists as Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, whose styles influence the creations of the 44-year-old painter from Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning province.

Through his pictures, in which reality and dreamlike scenes mingle, Xu persuades people to always seek the warmth of life even when going through bad times.

He stresses this in one of his recent poems, Warm Sun, in which he writes: "Doubts and anxieties of the past no longer exist. They've dissolved in the bright sky. The glass of the buildings reflect my face.

"I see a man who doesn't live in the past or a dream. He is bathed in the warmth of sunlight."

The poem is an introduction to Xu's ongoing Inner World exhibition in Beijing's Songzhuang art district.

On show are dozens of landscapes and paintings from his three series: Forbidden City, Countryside and Sketch Classes.

His drawings of the Forbidden City are based on a brief visit earlier this year.