In the most difficult stages of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), Xu Beihong, one of the prominent figures of 20th-century Chinese art, made dozens of paintings of galloping horses, a motif he often revisited and is best known for, not only to hail the strength and vitality of the creature. More importantly, he depicted the vigorous horses to encourage his people to keep faith in the final triumph of war to regain national independence.

Galloping Horse, one such painting Xu created in 1942, will go under the hammer in an online auction on Aug 19 on the Taobao e-commerce platform, with a starting bidding price at 2.1 million yuan ($330,000).

The work is one of the five ink paintings by Xu to be put on auction at an online platform for the first time. They have been authenticated by Peon Art Museum, founded by the Xu family. People can have a preview of them by visiting taobao.com.