Ma Changli, who graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1953, is one of the earliest painters who explored oil painting to depict his country and people, following the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

While many of his peers approached the subject of socialist construction with grand, historical narratives in their works, Ma garnered a reputation in the 1950s and '60s for creating a body of work in which he delivered a much more tender, private and poetic feeling.

Since the 1980s, his enthusiasm for landscape art has grown. With rhythmic brushwork, he depicts natural scenery across the country in which he orchestrates a symphony of the heart and soul.

The Feelings of Nature, an exhibition being held at the Central Academy of Fine Arts through Oct 7, hails Ma's decadeslong endeavor to highlight Chinese refinement, poetry and grace on canvas. It opened on Sept 16, Ma's 90th birthday, and shows over 120 paintings, drawings and sketches made since the early 1960s.

Wu Xueshan, a professor at the CAFA, says that through the decades, Ma has been pursuing an "atmospheric beauty of the East" in his work, and he seeks a harmonious relationship between the Chinese cultural spirit and the color scheme and composition of Western oil paintings.

Wu says Ma seldom draws historic sites or a panoramic view of rivers and mountains that are embedded with symbolic meanings, rather, he prefers to capture "the beauty of the inconspicuous and the casual "found in glimpses of his subjects. For years, he traveled extensively around the country, and his paintings depict natural scenes or people's activities in diverse outdoor settings that show the vitality and reality of day-to-day life.

The exhibition shows seminal works from Ma's series of paintings of Tibetans whose lives changed following the peaceful liberation of Tibet.

His depictions of Tibetan women engaging in daily work are probably more popular than any other subject in his oeuvre.

Ma visited the Tibet autonomous region and villages inhabited by Tibetans in Sichuan and Qinghai provinces many times. He stayed with locals in their tents and observed how they lived, worked and celebrated festivals.

His painting at the exhibition, On the Grassland, shows three women beating butter to prepare buttered tea.

Fan Di'an, the CAFA dean, says that in the artwork, the women's movements to lower their bodies and stir yak milk present a strong sense of rhythm, echoing with a "dance of the clouds" in the extensive sky in the backdrop and, by looking at it, viewers can picture in their mind a scene of animation and happiness.

Ma recalls that he once saw a Tibetan woman beat butter while singing, and he asked to try it out himself. "I took over the wooden stick and managed just several stirs. It exhausted me. The woman took back the stick and continued the work with ease. I felt utter respect for her and the others."

Ma's landscapes, particularly those made since the 1980s, show his intention to be "a singer for nature", Fan says.

At the exhibition, Ma's 1984 painting, Time of Harvest, exemplifies an effort to make his landscape a wordless poem or an inaudible song. The painting portrays a busy lake in southern China where boats loaded with grains gather and the water shimmers as the sun rises. Ma says the warm tone emphasizes the joy of harvest. The vigorous scene is also featured on the exhibition poster.

Fan says that by rendering simple poetry to his subjects, Ma conveys Chinese aesthetics that hail the unity of universe and people. "With great sincerity, he brings the viewer closer to nature. The visionary outlook of his paintings shows us the truth of life."