THE GRACE OF AYRES

A retrospective show of paintings by the late British abstract artist Gillian Ayres is underway in Beijing, Lin Qi reports.

It's widely accepted that a major promotion in a person's career would normally spur them on to chase further success. For the late Gillian Ayres, however, the prominent British abstract artist's most creative period began after she abandoned a promising career in teaching.

In 1981, just three years after becoming the first woman to direct a painting department at a British art school, she resigned and moved her family away from the busy metropolitan life, to a remote part of the countryside, where, in closer touch with nature, she focused on painting.