Going beyond the confines of time

Artist Han Yu, the creator of the main characters in The Three Monks, a well-known 20-minute animation from the early 1980s. CHINA DAILY

He has researched and written extensively about Qi's work and, in June, he published What I've Learned From Qi Baishi, a collection of 50 essays sharing his thoughts about Qi's art and views on life.

Beijing Fine Art Academy is staging, at its museum, A Spiritual Meeting Beyond Time, an exhibition that juxtaposes the works of Qi and Han, examining the cultural and spiritual links between the two. It runs until Oct 8.

The academy was the recipient of a generous donation of Qi's artworks by the artist himself and, at the exhibition, the institution shows a selection from its collection of Qi's paintings which are mentioned in Han's book, displaying each one with a comment taken from Han's essays.

It offers the audience Han's perspective and understanding of Qi's underlying meanings when creating the paintings.

"Why do I love, study and write about Qi feverishly, much more than any other prominent artist like Huang Binhong and Fu Baoshi? Because we have so much in common," Han says.