The exhibition Sincere Heart and Flying Dreams features Fu Juanfu's paintings and his collection of works by such established modern artists as Feng Zikai and Zheng Yuebo (above). [Photo provided to China Daily]

The Zhejiang Art Museum has around 1 million yuan ($145,000) a year for collecting art, but a museum-quality work by Zhang Daqian or Fu Baoshi can cost anywhere between tens of thousands of yuan to several million yuan.

"The (Zhejiang) museum now houses more than 22,000 works, and 80 percent of them were donated by artists and their families," Si says.

The museum received its first donation from modern art master Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010). Wu, who studied at the Hangzhou Fine Art School (now the China Academy of Art), donated 40 paintings and 16 collections soon after the museum opened.

He also persuaded one of his collectors in Singapore to donate to the museum.