Wake up in the morning and listen to the wind and rain, a work of artist Ren Jianguo Photo:Courtesy of Ren Jianguo

For years, Ren Jianguo, an art veteran born in 1957 who focuses Chinese ink wash painting, has been exploring how the modern spirit of ink wash painting can be merged with traditional Chinese aesthetics. 

The artist fuses his profound understanding of Chinese culture and abstract expressionist painting language together to produce art with a unique modern sense. 

Since the beginning of the 21th century, Ren has been dedicated to conceiving a new "figure landscape" painting style, an innovative combination of traditional Chinese figure and landscape paintings.  

Ren's works inherit the idyllic sense of traditional Chinese ink wash paintings. Many of his works were inspired by the pastoral lifestyle that the literati Tao Yuanming depicted in his poetries. 

Born in Beijing and later traveling to Australia, Ren made a name for himself as early as 1985, when he brought his work to the milestone national art exhibition of Chinese contemporary art China Youth in Progress. The exhibition paved the way for the 85 New Art Movement, which has been seen by many as a prelude to Chinese contemporary art. 

Before Ren became a leading figure in Chinese art, he studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts from 1978 to 1982. The veteran was tutored by Chinese art masters such as Li Keran and Jiang Zhaohe.