Xu became the headmaster of Beiping Fine Art School, now the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, at age 33. Shortly after, he paid three visits to the home of Qi, whose artistic excellence he admired, and persuaded him to accept a professor's job at the school.

Zhang hailed from a well-to-do family of scholars in southwestern Sichuan province. He was taught to read and paint by his mother and older siblings, and once studied textile design in Japan. From the 1950s, he lived and divided his time mainly between the Americas and Europe, before moving to Taipei where he eventually died.

While in Paris in 1933, he was introduced to a European audience at the Modern Chinese Paintings Exhibition, which was promoted by Xu Beihong, who exhibited works by Chinese artists including himself, Zhang and Qi. The exhibition was a success and went on to tour other European cities.

"Besides painting and managing art schools, Xu Beihong was committed to campaigning for Chinese art and artists," Xu Ji says. "For example, Xu placed his own works, which sold at a much higher price, beside Qi's pieces at exhibitions to help raise Qi's profile."

He says the current exhibition offers a rare view of a 22-leaf album of paintings that includes Qi's best-known motifs, including flowers, plants, fruits, vegetables and small animals, in which he celebrated the vigor of small living things. He says the album was commissioned by Xu Beihong, who told Qi to paint whatever he wished, and that he would pay for them at a fair price.