Led by Fu Baoshi (1904-65), the institute's founding president and one of the most influential ink painters of the 20th century, the group set out in September on an ambitious expedition combining travel, observation and sketching from life. The team included established artists such as Ya Ming, alongside teachers and students from art academies, who both assisted the senior painters and took the opportunity to sharpen their own skills.

A map displayed in the exhibition outlines the route: departing from Nanjing, the group traveled northwest to Henan and Shaanxi provinces, then south to Sichuan province and Chongqing — at the time still part of Sichuan — before heading east through Hubei and Hunan provinces, and finally reaching Guangzhou in Guangdong province, before returning home. Along the way, they visited iconic landscapes such as the Sanmen Gorge in Henan, and the mountains of Huashan in Shaanxi and Emei in Sichuan, all of which remain popular destinations today.

Yet, the journey was not solely about scenic appreciation. It also carried a deeper artistic mission: to draw inspiration from nature while rethinking the methods and expressive possibilities of Chinese painting in response to the sweeping industrial, economic and social changes of the time. One striking example is a set of 10 sketches titled An Album of Iron and Steel, based on visits to steel plants in Chongqing and Wuhan in Hubei.