A painting by Guan Shanyue in 1987.

A painting by Song Wenzhi in 1982.

A painting by Huang Junbi in 1945.

“Ten Thousand Ranges of Hills Left Behind,” a grand exhibition of paintings depicting the beautiful Three Gorges by painters from the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) to the modern time, is being held at Guan Shanyue Art Museum.

The Three Gorges is a natural landmark located along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Comprised of the Qutang Gorge, the Wu Gorge and the Xiling Gorge, the Three Gorges span 311 kilometers beginning at Baidi City of Chongqing Municipality in the west and ending at Yichang City in Hubei Province in the east.

With a seamless steep and sweeping grandeur of mountains on both sides of the Yangtze River, the natural beauty of the Three Gorges has been appreciated for hundreds of years. In Tang-Dynasty (618-907) poet Li Bai’s poem “Setting Out From Baidi City,” he depicts this place, saying, “While monkeys keep howling on both sides of the river, the boat has swiftly passed ten thousand mountains.” The title of the exhibition is inspired by this line of poetry.

The paintings created in the Qing Dynasty and the early 20th century are on loan from Three Gorges Museum in Chongqing. Other paintings by Guan Shanyue (1912-2000), Li Xiongcai (1910-2001), Lu Yanshao (1909-1993) and Song Wenzhi (1919-1999) are from local and other cities’ art museums. Paintings by Guan’s students are also on display, showing that the Three Gorges were an important theme for Guan and his students.

“Through this exhibition, we can see that Guan Shanyue and the painters in his generation adapted the classic Chinese mountain-and-water genre of painting to the needs of a new time in the 1960s-1980s,” said Chen Xiangbo, director of Guan Shanyue Art Museum.

The exhibition also has interactive screens for visitors to find out about the Three Gorges and the artists’ travel experiences in that area.

Dates: Until Sept. 26

Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Mondays

Venue: Guan Shanyue Art Museum, 6026 Hongli Road, Futian District (福田区红荔路6026号关山月美术馆)

Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit B