The show features paintings with Ting's signature female figures, such as Odalisque III (above), rendered in bold colours as well as in black and white. Significant for several reasons, it's the first exhibition of Ting's paintings in Hong Kong in five years. Since suffering a major illness several years ago, the once prolific artist no longer paints.

Gallery owner Alice King has been showing Ting's work since 1986. Despite his illness, King says that Ting still has a lust for life.

'When we go to lunch he orders everything. Unfortunately, he probably will not produce any more works in his lifetime, but we want people to remember that he and his works are still around,' she says. 'These past few years, many have asked about him. So we decided to put a show together of the works.'

On display are works from various periods of Ting's career. The show features images exuberantly painted yet refreshingly naive in their subject matter. Influenced by the Dutch fauvist painter Kees Van Dongen, Ting painted languid female forms poised passively and sometimes sensuously in flat, two-dimensional spaces. He added drama to those quiet surfaces with blocks of tropical colours or bold black graphic strokes.

'It is so important for an artist to have their own style and he has one,' says King. 'Many contemporary artists do figurative works now, but Ting is the 'father' of [Chinese] figure paintings.'

Ting's paintings are testimonial of his love for the beauty of life. His subject matter includes animals, but he is best known for his figurative paintings of women in vibrant colours.

His generous use of pure pigment and its exuberant applications made Ting's work stand out, early on, from the many other Chinese artists who were painting quiet landscapes.

'As a pioneer, he has definitely influenced today's contemporary art scene,' King says. 'His works have been exhibited and collected internationally. This is why he is an important and significant painter - still. He deserves his place in art history.'

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