Zhang Guangyu was creative while painting with watercolors, and making illustrations and cartoons, as well as designing animation characters. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Born in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, Zhang took no interest in the family business of traditional Chinese medicine of his paternal side, or the private banking business of his maternal side.

After basic schooling in Shanghai, Zhang, at age 15, was exposed to a thriving, dynamic cultural landscape. There, he was nurtured and became a celebrated figure in the following decades.

Zhang stretched out one hand to Chinese folk art, while he offered the other to the art movements of Europe that were also closely followed in the cosmopolitan metropolis of Shanghai.

Zhang's painting skills were self-taught and he gained his early inspiration from watching Peking Opera performers wear makeup backstage. He once lived close to a Peking Opera theater.

He was greatly inspired by Western art and industrial design while working at Shanghai's art companies and in the advertisement departments of foreign tobacco companies in the 1920s.