Pioneer with ink

National art museum celebrates Chinese artist Qian Songyan's 120th birth anniversary, Lin Qi reports.

The last words of Qian Songyan (1899-1985), a classic Chinese painting master and educator, were: "Spring silkworms continuously produce silk until death."

Qian quoted the verse from a ninth-century Chinese poem to summarize his commitment to the centuries-old style of ink painting. He presented the tradition in a modern context in his artworks.