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With footprints on the land across the nation, Gu Yuan incorporated diversified folk customs and adopted paper-cutting skills to his woodprints. His creations entered another golden era.

His woodcuts Light in Chinese Dates Garden, Laud to Camel, New Life of Tibetans, and watercolor paintings Kitchen Smoke, Busy Winter in Hainan, and Fishing in Songjiang River were masterpieces in the new era.

Kitchen Smoke watercolor painting. [Photo/Selected Works of Gu Yuan's Watercolor Paintings]

Art Master Cai Ruohong, former dean of the Fine Arts Department of Lu Sin Academy of Arts & Literature, once commented that Gu Yuan's woodblock prints, featuring the zest of life, advanced ideological content and perfect Chinese national style, indicate that the exotic art of woodprint has been amazingly nationalized.

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Gu Yuan returned to his hometown for the last time at age 76. He donated all his artwork to Zhuhai city to repay his townsmen. The Gu Yuan Museum of Art has been built to showcase the hundreds of woodcuts, sketches, and watercolor paintings in memory of Gu Yuan.

Gu Yuan's former residence in Nazhou village. [Photo by Zheng Xiaoyue for chinadaily.com.cn]

Gu Yuan died of disease on Aug 10, 1996 at age 77, only months after bequeathing the works to his hometown.