Drawing influences

Another shown painting created in 1986, titled Treasure, depicts a gold circle against a vast black background.

"People ask what the circle stands for," Pang Tao says. "It can be viewed as a metaphor for the glitter that indicates treasures buried deep."

There is no need to identify a specific object in abstract paintings, she adds.

"It is like the feeling of a thunderstorm, say, through music, without having to actually see or hear a real storm."

Her endeavors extended to modernizing visual elements of ancient culture. The bronze ware of the Shang (c.16th century-11th century BC) and Zhou (c. 11th century-256 BC) dynasties are two examples. She became interested in the intricate patterns on the archaic items in the late 1930s, when her father began categorizing traditional Chinese patterns for his own work and publication.

Pang Tao was in the middle of a yearlong stay in Paris as a visiting scholar when Pang Xunqin died in 1985. The exposure to the diversity of Western art ignited her thinking on how to adapt traditional Chinese culture to a modern context. And while remembering her father, she was drawn to the bronze ware that he'd invested much energy in researching.

Her Revelation of Bronze series of paintings, also on display at the ongoing exhibition, shows the addition of vibrant colors to render a rhythmic touch.

In many of Pang Tao's works, including the Change of Color Graduation series she created last year, rhythm is a rule for her while arranging shapes, lines and colors in harmony.