Eagles are a major subject in Pan's works.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Art benefits and progresses every time different cultures interact. There has never been a situation in which one kind of art is destroyed by another."

China Academy of Art professor Fan Jingzhong says three kinds of people "live in the palace of fine art". The first "works to earn bread". The second seeks spiritual satisfaction. The third group - to which Fan believes Pan Tianshou belongs - is distinctive in that art is a socially ambitious expression of their views of culture during times of dramatic change.

Indeed, Pan Tianshou was an exceptional artist but an ordinary man when not using his brush.

Pan Gongkai says his father lived "as simply as a farmer".

"His favorite dishes were street food like baked beans and fried rice cakes. He swept the courtyard we lived in every morning. When he was the headmaster, he had a car and a driver, but he never used them. He felt uncomfortable in a car," he recalls.

"He didn't pretend to be frugal. He just thought it was unnecessary. He preferred walking and taking the bus."

Pan Gongkai says his father didn't talk much outside the classroom, and when he needed to, he spoke slowly and gently in a way unlike his apparent machismo.

"Although he suffered many setbacks and was often under huge pressure, he didn't complain at home. He didn't bicker with my mother. I often heard them talking about poetry," he says.

"He was sensitive to beauty and had a big heart. That's why he became a good artist."

If you go

9 am-5 pm, through Sunday. 1 Wusi Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6400-1476.