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Guan Liang was the first generation of oil painters in China. He went to Japan to study Western painting techniques in 1917 and was strongly influenced by the Japanese Fauvism of the Impressionists. He devoted his whole life in art creation after returning to China. He was famous for his reformed oil painting with national tone, and vivid opera figures in Chinese Paintings. Although he was remembered for his opera figures, his oil paintings received praise from professors in Western countries; they said that his works were ranked among "the best of oil paintings in China." (in Memoir of Guan Liang published by Shanghai Paintings/Books Publishing House 1984, p. 121)

"Scenery of the River Bank" represents the style of Japanese Impressionism that is simple and ingenuous. The size of the painting is, though, small but the content is extensive. The art critic, Shui Tianzhong once said that Guan Liang's paintings are free and relaxed compared with other painters in the same period. He was good at simplifying the vast space, complicated colors and structures in his paintings and yet still presented the majesty of the scenery. (Extracted from 'The Wanderer in Art' written by Shui Tianzhong; Guan Liang, 100 Years Retrospective, Lin & Keng Gallery, Taipei, 2000)

Guan Liang not only emphasized the learning of the tradition but also of the modern. His paintings are the reflection of cultural development in today's world as well as contemporaneity. For painters, they have been searching for "integration of Form and Spirit", "a luid features of the national painting style" and simplicity. For Guan Liang, his contemporary artistic ideal, innocent and unbounded life philosophy, and traditional skills bestowed his paintings the spirit of a master.