Art for one and all

Wu's commitment to public education in art is at the heart of Art Nurtures Life, an ongoing exhibition that runs through May 3, 2020, at Tsinghua University Art Museum. The show gathers collections of Wu's works from the museum, the National Art Museum of China in Beijing and the National Gallery Singapore. The exhibition is said to be a climax of several art shows and events throughout this year to mark the centennial of Wu's birth.

Wu donated his works to many museums through which he also wished to boost public education in art. A few hours before he died on June 25, 2010 in Beijing, five of his paintings arrived at the Hong Kong Museum of Art to complete the last donation made during his lifetime.

The exhibition now on at the Tsinghua University Art Museum includes dozens of paintings, drafts, manuscripts and objects used by Wu that were donated to the museum by Wu's family in July and earlier this month.

Wu Keyu, the artist's eldest son, says the donations fulfill the wish of his father who anticipated a museum being built at the university he had served for decades.

Among the exhibits is Last Spring, an ink work in color from 2010 in which Wu Guanzhong administered a combination of lines and dots to present a vibrant scene of spring in an abstract way.