His son Chang Jiahuang (left) and Pan Yunhe, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, at the exhibition. FANG AIQING/CHINA DAILY

The exhibits also include Chang's copies of the murals in the Mogao Caves, as well as zhongcai (heavy-color) paintings, an important genre of Chinese painting with fine, precise delimitation and the layering of pigmented hues.

Through Chang's own depiction, the exhibition gives a display of early conservation efforts of the Dunhuang Academy, while tracing Chang's artistic exploration and achievements before and after he went back from France.

Chang was born in Hangzhou, a warm, wet and picturesque city along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. In his early 20s, he went to France to study oil painting and fabric pattern design.

His graduation work at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts de Lyon, Portrait of Madame G, ranked top among his peer graduates. He later entered the prestigious Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris with a scholarship funded by the city of Lyon.

In France, Chang was active in salons, official art exhibitions sponsored by the French government. Having received several awards, some of his works were included among the collections of French cultural and artistic institutions, such as the Centre Pompidou in Paris.