A truly revolutionary painter

"He's undoubtedly China's first career oil painter."

Li became a member of the National Academy of Design in New York in 1916 and began to exhibit regularly.

As his art career took off, he also devoted himself to assisting Sun with his revolutionary activities in North America and funding for Sun's mission to end monarchy in China.

Li had been one of Sun's first supporters, starting in the early 1900s. He aided the establishment of Tongmeng Hui's New York division and served as its secretary for six years.

He organized performances and plays, and directed films to raise funds to propel the idea of modernizing China through revolution among Chinese expatriates.

Li returned to Guangdong in 1931, after 46 years in North America. His homeland was facing war against the invading Japanese forces. He spent the 1930s and '40s traveling across the country to learn about his homeland's people and landscapes.

He mostly lived in Hong Kong to paint, teach and exhibit.

His many watercolor works created during the period depict Hong Kong's mountains, seashores and woods. Many of the scenes he depicted vanished as rapid urbanization transformed Hong Kong in the following decades.

Wu says Li received adequate education in classical Chinese literature and arts before going abroad.

He continued to study ink painting and calligraphy throughout his life.

"People who visited him in New York often said he practiced calligraphy every day."

Li revisited the subjects of tigers and eagles in his ink paintings between the 1930s and '40s. He rendered to the animals with an unyielding spirit he hoped to awaken in his people, when promoting Chinese revolution while in the US.

His art assisted his revolutionary development. And his experiences as a revolutionary in turn also developed his art, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts head Li Jinkun says.

Li Jishen, a statesman and one of the founding vice-chairmen of the Republic of China, introduced Li to others in 1944 by saying: "His art is his life. He cares nothing about fame or wealth. He takes little interest in socializing."

Li left a calligraphed couplet that's displayed at the current exhibition that shows pride in his aloofness: "My distant character makes it difficult for me to agree with mundane pleasures. I'm too leisurely to find enjoyment in the worldly hustle and bustle."