China mourns wife of renowned painter Xu Beihong

A memorial ceremony was held on Saturday in Beijing for Liao Jingwen, wife of one of China's most prestigious painters Xu Beihong.

Liao died of illness on Tuesday at an age of 92.

She was a Standing Committee member of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body.

She had also held the post of the curator of Xu Beihong Museum for more than half a century since 1957. Xu (1895-1953) was recognized as "the father of modern Chinese painting," and his most expensive painting, Cultivation on the Peaceful Land, was auctioned at a price of 266.8 million yuan (43.6 million U.S. dollars) in 2011.