Reformist ink artist's works on display at Shenzhen Art Museum

Romance and reforms, an ink master revived tradition with great courage.

The year was 1956. Late ink artist Li Keran was painting by the scenic West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, when rain drops fell on the paper he was drawing on. The parts smudged by the rain didn't make Li panic, rather, gave him new ideas.

While he continued to blend the marks made by the raindrops into his layering and shading, he also felt that it was a clue, a sign from nature for him to reform the ink painting tradition.

Li was then in the middle of an ambitious project to invent new approaches to classic Chinese painting. He traveled extensively throughout the country in the 1950s to gather varying views, watch and imbibe different folk customs, and sketch outdoors.