Versatile artist Wang puts on a stunning display

One of artist Wang Yong's paintings on show at the ongoing solo exhibition at Taiyuan Art Museum. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Wang gained fame early in the 1980s for his seals, an art form in China dating back 3,700 years.

It needs an artist to be good at calligraphy and engraving to make seals.

His current show has stone seals as well as clay seals - a new material in which he grew interested a few years ago.

Born in Beijing in 1948, Wang learned calligraphy and painting at 6.

When he was 12, he went to see a show of Qi Baishi (1864-1957) and Xu Beihong (1895-1953), which inspired him to learn seal-cutting, an art form that master Qi was good at.

Qi was also widely known for his ink paintings of shrimps.

Later, he joined the Central Academy of Fine Arts and studied under Li Keran (1907-89), a modern art master who was good at ink paintings of figures and landscapes.

For decades, Wang devoted himself to his art, though none of his works was sold.

But he says a calligrapher and an ink painter must learn to enjoy loneliness to perfect his art.

A good one must also learn to think during the lonely times, he says.

"What should I create - do calligraphy, draw or make a seal? I do it on a whim. When I'm bored by one thing, I turn to another," says Wang.

The artist has donated some of his works to the Taiyuan Art Museum as his father was born in Taiyuan.

If you go

9 am-5 pm, Tuesday to Sunday, through May 30. Taiyuan Art Museum, 1 Guangjing Road, Jinyuan district, Taiyuan, Shanxi province. 0351-6089-616.