Materpieces from Qi Baishi [Photo provided to China Daily]

He added that a review of their biographies also gives a retrospective of recent Chinese history.

In addition to these works, some modern art pieces have been put on display in homage to these artists. For example, Wu Weishan, head of the National Art Museum of China, brought his series of sculptures depicting these masters.

The Century Masters exhibition is modeled after a similarly titled, long documentary project that began in 2013. The 110-episode documentary gives biographies of the 43 cultural icons mixed with many interviews of relatives, friends, students and other scholars.

The first two seasons of the documentary have been released via China Central Television, provincial satellite TV stations, and some foreign counterparts, for example in Malaysia.

Cai Wu, former minister of culture and chief counselor of this project, said on Saturday that the production of all the episodes has recently been completed. The documentary is meant to fully show the cultural achievements Chinese can make.