Artist paints a picture of his times

"He was astute and kept pace with the needs of time. His experiments with different styles continued for years, through to the later stage of his life when he persisted with changes in his work."

The exhibition gathers iconic works from different stages of Wei's career, such as Model Breeder, a signature piece of socialist realism from 1956 and a collection of the National Art Museum of China, and Passageway, a 1990 work representative of his experimental embrace of the variations in realism.

Yu says the exhibition also shows Wei's endeavors in traditional ink art, and many of his ink paintings on display are being shown to the public for the first time.

Wei's initial art education was a copy of Jieziyuan Huapu, or the Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting, an ancient illustrated guidebook of classic Chinese paintings, which he obtained in childhood for learning.