What's on

Impressions of time

Behind each great artist of classic Chinese painting often stood a brilliant engraver, who carved the seals they used on their paintings.

In 1926, master painter Zhang Daqian got to know seal maker Fang Jiekan (1901-87) and the two forged an unbreakable friendship that lasted some 50 years. The seals Fang carved for Zhang left impressions on dozens of the latter's paintings, including his final creation, Landscape of Lushan Mountain, an ambitious project started in 1981. Zhang entrusted Fang with the engraving of several seals especially for the painting, but succumbed to illness before he was able to complete it, and died in 1983.

A replica of the 10-meter landscape, bearing Fang's seals, is now on show at Masters of Seal Engraving, an exhibition at the Tsinghua University Art Museum that focuses on the careers of three prominent figures in this classic Chinese art form, including Fang, his mentor Xie Leiming (1884-1963) and his student Xu Wuwen (1931-93). All three were members of Hangzhou's esteemed Xiling Seal Engraver's Society, which admits those who not only display a fine technique, but are also consummate artists and scholars. The exhibition runs until Jan 3.

9 am-5 pm, closed on Mondays. Tsinghua University campus, 1 Qinghuayuan, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-6278-1012.

Beautiful Yangtze

Earlier this year, the China National Academy of Painting organized a tour along the Yangtze River for resident artists and artists based in cities along the Yangtze River.

Nearly 140 art pieces produced as a result of the tour are now on show at Protecting the Beautiful Yangtze River, which is on display at the art museum of the China National Academy of Painting in Beijing until Friday. The exhibition covers many aspects of the regions along the Yangtze, their ecology, economy, tradition, history and social development.

Scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences were invited to give lectures to help artists better understand the past and present of the thriving areas. The pieces include notes made by the artists during the trip, as well as the opinions of critics.

9-11:30 am, 1:30-4:30 pm, daily.54 Xisanhuan Beilu, Haidian district, Beijing. 010-6841-2606.

Art of ecosystem

It may sound strange, but growing algae is an interesting and healing process for some. Artist Wang Sicheng decided to create a site-specific installation to do just that for Metamorphic Ecosphere, an exhibition at the Hyundai Motorstudio Beijing. His piece, Beginning and Future, encourages staff and visitors to the exhibition to reflect on the growth of the algae over the course of the exhibition.

The concept of the interaction between people, other life forms and Earth lies behind the exhibition, which examines coexistence between people and other members of the planetary ecosystem through the work of 10 individual artists and collectives.

Running through March 31, the exhibition is curated by Zong Xiao, a prizewinner of the Hyundai Blue Prize Art Plus Tech 2023.

10 am-7:30 pm, closed on Mondays. E-1, 798 Art Zone, A4, Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-5810-1088.