Roughly 500-year-old flower-and-bird partings from the Ming and Qing dynasties of China are on display in New York City.

The 'Flowers on a River' exhibition showcases some of China's finest examples of flower-and-bird paintings. It's the most comprehensive collection of its kind exhibited outside China and has taken years of planning to put together.

Flowers on a River, a nearly 13-meter-long scroll depicting the life process of a lotus flower, was painted by the artist Bada Shanren (Zhu Da) when he was 72 years old.

"Either as a person or as his technique in painting all mature and this is really the painting using the lotus, using the landscape, using the orchids really to state his life journey," said Willow Weilan Hai, Director and Chief Curator of the China Institute Gallery.

Dating back to 1697 it's the centerpiece of this exhibition.

"I think the most important piece is the Bada because that one is really famous. I didn't even see it before in China but I saw it here. I was like, 'Oh my god, it's amazing!'" said Dee Lyu, Assistant Executive Director of the Heritage Museum of Asian Art.

Flowers on a River is on display at the China Institute Gallery in New York. It's the only museum dedicated exclusively to Chinese artworks.

These flower-and-bird paintings are from some of the genre's most prominent artists over a span of around 500 years.

Female artists began to blossom during this period. This collection also features the work of eight women that excelled in this field.

"It really reflects the beauty of nature and very much interwoven with our philosophy and life wisdom so that is a much beloved art form," said Hai.

Curators say this exhibition has been in the works since 2017. It comprises of pieces from the Tianjin and Changzhou museums. Curators say this genre of artworks is culturally significant.

The exhibition will be open in New York until June before moving to a museum in California for three-month display this winter.