The ongoing Destined to Reform exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing features more than 550 paintings and sculptures by artists from Guangdong province since the early 20th century. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]

Gao, whose paintings are on show, co-founded the Lingnan School of Painting, an artists' group in Guangdong, which revived the dying ink-brush tradition by introducing oil painting techniques.

Gao graduated from the 130-year-old Tokyo Fine Arts School, now the Tokyo University of the Arts. And, with support from Sun Yat-sen, a renowned statesman who led the revolution that ended imperial rule in China, he was devoted to the dissemination of revolutionary ideas and art education.

The Tokyo school produced several modern Chinese artists, such as Li Xiongcai (1910-2001), a second-generation painter from the Lingnan school, whose works are also on show.

The exhibition features Li's Patrol in Forest, which demonstrates his skill in depicting natural scenery.

Chen Lyusheng, the former deputy head of the National Museum of China, says Guangdong's artists played a unique role in modern Chinese art, not only because they were open to foreign influences, such as oil painting, but because they cared about livelihoods.

"They explored styles that suited the times and the needs of the people.

"And as they traveled to other parts of the country, they influenced artists there. As a result they became models for Chinese modern art."

The exhibition also celebrates attempts to renew the face of Chinese art by featuring works of painters like Guan Shanyue (1912-2000).