As Japanese forces moved southward, he fled to British Hong Kong briefly before ultimately returning to his hometown in Guangdong.

[3] In 1911, as he was processing the Xinhai Revolution, he painted No One to Tell (无告人),[1] which Zhong Lin of the Nan Fang Daily describes as Huang's first mature work.

[3] Several members of Huang's family died in the 1920s, including his grandfather, father, mother, and multiple siblings; he dealt with the sense of loss through his art.

[1] His painting Sad String (哀弦) was sent for display in Berlin as part of an exhibition of Chinese art in 1933, then brought to London for further showings.

[8] Following the 1931 Japanese invasion of Manchuria, Huang contributed his Floods and Refugees (洪水图流民图) to the National Disaster Painting Exhibition (1932) in Guangzhou.

He also produced several works that denounced the invasion, including Daughter of Resistance (抵抗之女) and National Soul Rising at the Yalu River (鸭绿江头起国魂).

[9] He frequently associated with other artists, including fellow Lingnan School painters He Qiyuan, Chao Shao-an, and Ye Shaobing.

[1] In the early 1930s, Huang travelled China, making stops in Guangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Shanxi, where he observed the experiences of the common people.

[3] He established the People's Atelier at his home on Tongning Road,[10] where he continued to educate young painters;[4] ultimately, the students held six joint exhibitions.

[1] In Hong Kong, Huang organized more art exhibitions to raise money for the campaign against the Japanese,[1] and produced multiple works – such as No Looking Back (不堪回首) and A National Disaster Too Terrible for Words (罄竹难书国难惨) – depicting the suffering that accompanied the occupation.

[4] Huang refused to acquiesce to the Japanese and was unwilling to join the Japan-established South China Arts Association;[4] when asked to do so by fellow Lingnan painter He Qiyuan, he sent a written response rather than deliver his answer in person.

[4] From 1935, the People's Atelier held annual exhibitions to display the works of Huang's students; examples included Rong Jingduo's They Who Struggle to Save Food for Three Days (役役誰儲三日糧) and Liang Rui's Dreaming of the Son's Future Repayment (他年反哺徒空想).

[13] Writing for the Foshan Museum, Li Xiaoqing notes that Huang participated in some eighty-five exhibitions in his lifetime, with international showings in Belgium, France, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom.

[8] These exhibitions gained the support of prominent politicians and artists, with a 1935 catalogue of his paintings containing notes from Chairman Lin Sen, Premier Wang Jingwei, and President of the Examination Yuan Dai Jitao, as well as the essayist Hu Shih and painter Xu Beihong.

[14] Numerous retrospectives on Huang and his work have been held,[8] including an exhibition of more than one hundred paintings, as well as related poetry, photographs, and other media, at the Guangdong Museum of Art in 1999.

[4] The Foshan Municipal Government has published several compilations of Huang's writings, and in 2006 a catalogue of his oeuvre was issued to commemorate the 105th anniversary of his birth.

[16] Huang, who was known professionally by the art name Zhilu (止庐),[c][6] sought to capture modern situations by using traditional Chinese approaches to painting.

[2] Attested in his works are beggars, craftsmen, peasants, peddlers, street performers, and tea house servants;[1] such everyday figures were frequently depicted in contemporary approaches to bring art to the people.

[19] Consequently, Ye Shuming of the e-zine Yang Cheng describes Huang's paintings as imbued with a humanitarian spirit, taking a critical realist approach to highlighting their suffering while condemning the excesses of luxury.