Wu Guanzhong , whose works in oil and ink brought international recognition and acclaim for modern Chinese painting, has died at the age of 91.
One of his final acts - hours before his death on Friday night in Beijing - was to donate his last paintings to the Hong Kong Museum of Art.
'I want to donate the best [of my paintings] to the people, to the country. This is my wish,' Wu once said at the opening of one of his exhibitions. His wish came true with donations of a large number of his paintings to various museums, including 52 pieces to the Museum of Art in Hong Kong, with which Wu established a connection in 1995.
Recognised as one of the most important figures of 20th century Chinese art, with many of his paintings selling for record prices in recent years, Wu was born in the southeastern province of Jiangsu in 1919. After graduating from the National Hangzhou Art College headed by Lin Fengmin, he won a scholarship in 1946 to study at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris the following year.
Despite the great popularity of his works in the art market, Wu led a simple life. At a ceremony on Friday to mark his latest donation, Wu's eldest son, Wu Keyu , who handled the donation of his father's paintings to Hong Kong, said: 'He had a small breakfast and lunch and a bigger dinner because he believed he had to get some work done before he was rewarded.'
Wu's output decreased as he got older and he only painted when he was inspired, Wu Keyu said. His four most recent and final works - At Rest, Illusion, Awakening and Nest - were created in the spring of this year before Wu's admission to hospital and are now permanently preserved in Hong Kong. They will go on display on July 23.
