Artist imbues modern cityscapes with ancient flavor

Landscapes, mountains and rivers are classical themes of traditional Chinese paintings, but Xu Xi, 73, has spent the latter half of his career painting urban scenes, inspired by the ink paintings of the East and color from the West.

After living in New York for 10 years, the energetic painter recently held a retrospective exhibition of his works at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. On display are 150 pieces of his work created over the past 40 years, mainly featuring his ink paintings.

Xu has painted landscapes of cities at home and abroad. The cities in China include ancient cities in Hunan province, the busy market in Lhasa, the mountainous city of Chongqing and water towns in Zhejiang province. He also painted a series of New York City and another series depicting other parts of the US, including Alaska and San Francisco, and later a series of European cities.