Clear and Distant Streams and Mountains. [Photo/Nantong Calligraphy and Chinese Painting Institute]

Three artworks by Wang Huitao, deputy director of the Nantong Calligraphy and Chinese Painting Institute, have been featured in three national exhibitions this year.

Clear and Distant Streams and Mountains is currently on display at the 2025 Freehand Brush Work Exhibition, which runs until Jan 15, 2026 at the Hebei Academy of Fine Arts Exhibition Hall in Hebei province.

This painting draws inspiration from Zhang Yuhu (1132-1170)'s poem Nian Nu Jiao: Passing Dongting Lake and depicts a dreamlike scene with misty stone bridges, villages, unique rocks, tree shadows, and colorful mountains, all enveloped in a serene and mysterious atmosphere. It offers viewers a sense of clarity and spiritual comfort.

Layers. [Photo/Nantong Calligraphy and Chinese Painting Institute]

Layers was selected for the Fifth Chinese Painting Exhibition, held in Shandong province from April to June. Inspired by the "Eight Views of Xiaoxiang" from traditional Chinese landscape painting, the work features meticulously arranged mountain stones that embody unique aesthetic ideals, presenting a deep, calm awareness and a transcendent Zen philosophy.

Drift. [Photo/Nantong Calligraphy and Chinese Painting Institute]

His third selected work, Drift, was displayed at the Chinese Painting Exhibition in Jiangsu province in April. The piece was inspired by the lotus pond outside his studio, capturing the changing seasons and the cycle of blooming and withering flowers. The foreground features a lush expanse of irises, while the background is filled with clusters of lotus leaves, with a few lotus flowers blooming exuberantly.

Born in 1980 in Weifang, Shandong province, Wang is a member of the China Artists Association, the Jiangsu Artists Association, and the deputy secretary-general of the Nantong Artists Association. Currently, he serves as the deputy director of the Nantong Calligraphy and Chinese Painting Institute.