An exhibition at the Chinese Academy of Oil Painting in the capital city, until June 10, offers the public a route into Chen's mind to see how he conceived, prepared and completed this body of works.

At the heart of this exhibition, titled A Revisit to the Tibetans Series After Forty Years, is The Shepherds which shows a Tibetan couple about to kiss against a background of extensive grassland.

The painting only shows the man's back, but his exposed right arm well demonstrates masculine strength. Half of the woman's face is blocked by the man. She is leaning back against a stone wall while her smile and her hand that clutches the man's garment suggests passion.

The Shepherds is on show with life-size reproductions of the rest of the series. There are also more than 200 sketches, drawings and preparatory watercolors Chen made while in Tibet, showing vivid details and his industrious studies of the color and patterns of Tibetan costumes.

Yang Feiyun, president of the Chinese Academy of Oil Painting, was one of the first people to see the series. He was a junior student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts when the works were completed and shown at the school.

"Great art is presented with great skill, but technical excellence alone does not guarantee marvelous works," Yang says.

He says the exhibition shows that the meaning of preparatory sketching to Chen is as essential as breathing, and his painting on canvas is as natural as writing characters.