An exhibition of painting and calligraphy by Xing Shaolan opened in the old town of Liuhe in the city of Taicang, Jiangsu province on Oct 8, with more than 60 works on show at the Liuhe Culture and Art Center.

Xing Shaolan, born in Shandong province in 1938 and brought up in Taicang, studied flower paintings under the master of Chinese ink painting Zhu Qizhan (1892-1996) in the 1950s then learned landscape painting from Song Wenzhi (1919-1999).

As a student of the two masters, Xing has developed his own style. His paintings, driven by metaphysics, are done with flowy, unrestrained figures. The best examples of this expression technique could be the paintings of pine trees and orchids, many of which have been donated by Xing to the Liuhe government to promote the town's cultural development.

Along with the exhibition, Xing endowed the Xing Shaolan Art Museum, which was founded in Liuhe in 2015, with 30 painting and calligraphy works as well as some valued documents to enrich the museum's collections.

The exhibition is set to last for about one month.

Additionally, an exhibition displaying more than 70 art works by over 60 painters and calligraphers is also under way at the Xing Shaolan Art Museum.

A Chinese ink painting of pine trees by Xing Shaolan. [Photo/WeChat account: taicangdaily]

The landscape painting Song Shi Qian Qiu (Everlasting Pine Trees and Mountains), 21 meters in length and 1.8 m in width, is one of the 30 donations to the Xing Shaolan Art Museum by Xing Shaolan. [Photo/WeChat account: taicangdaily]