Childhood memories and poetry inspire dreamlike scenes

"As in literature, one can read and tour through my paintings — experiencing sights, sounds, smells, and tastes," says writer and painter Yung Liu.

While his essays have soothed the hearts and minds of Chinese readers, this time, the Taipei-born artist, 77, is showing another important dimension of his life — painting — to Beijing audiences. His ongoing exhibition, Poetic Years: Dreams Flow into Paintings, is on display at the National Museum of China until June 8, the venue he visited decades ago as the host of a TV program.

The paintings on show, mostly in the classical Chinese painting style, reflect the artistic and cultural accumulations Liu has gathered since childhood. More importantly, they exhibit how he has woven his varied experiences living in the East and West into his innovative strokes, rendering new aesthetics and strength to China's ink art tradition.