Remembering a pioneering designer

An exhibition to commemorate the centenary of acclaimed artist Zhang Ding's birth is now on at the Tsinghua University Art Museum. Lin Qi reports.

Zhang Ding (1917-2010) could barely contain his excitement when he retired from the head of the Central Academy of Arts and Design, now Tsinghua University's arts and design academy, in 1984. He was then 67.

The artist, designer and educator was delighted because he was finally free from administrative duties and could fully commit himself to ink-brush painting, according to Wang Luxiang, a longtime follower and Beijing-based commentator on arts and culture.