Time: 12 February - 10 March, 2026
Location: Gallery 1
Unfinished: A Chinese Art Continuum
Why revisit Cézanne today at Ningbo Museum of Art (NMA)?
To many, Paul Cézanne is a "classical artist" enshrined in art history. This exhibition, however, does not seek to review a finished chapter of the past. Rather, it takes Cézanne as a pivotal starting point to reconsider a question that remains relevant today: how can paintings continue to move forward in the present world?
Cézanne is famed as the "father of modern art" not only for his influence on later artists, but also because he proposed a persistent and unresolved question: how to establish a stable yet open relationship between the authentic experiences of nature and the artistic structures? Many of his late artworks appear to be "unfinished" — colors shifting and forms taking shape, the images seem to be in a state of constant transformation. Such incompleteness keeps Cézanne in continuous dialogues with the contemporary art world.
The show presented by NMA is based on its holdings of works by Cézanne, which represent both a precious legacy and a responsibility. An art museum is not only a space to store its collection, but should also reactivate the contemporary relevance of the collected works through research and display. Thus, NMA looks beyond Cézanne and ask: starting from the "unfinished Cézanne," what can contemporary Chinese paintings respond to? And what can they contribute?
The exhibition unfolds as a dialogue across time and cultures. Instead of simply "learning from" or "imitating" Cézanne, the participating Chinese artists engage with the issues raised by Cézanne in their own creation: How to confront nature? How to move between sketching and creating? How to negotiate varied materials, the lapses of time, and moments of sensation? These questions have long existed in the Chinese artistic tradition, though answered in different ways.
Jiao Xiaojian, Romance, 246×180cm, acrylic on paper, 2024
Liang Quan, Diptych-Welcome the New Arrivals II - Colors, Ink, 166×127cm, rice paper collage, 2022
Chinese paintings boasts a long tradition of landscape art and a unique understanding of concepts such as "qi", "rhythm", and "time". When the traditional heritage encounters the challenges of modern paintings, it is no longer a matter of East versus West, but rather new possibilities. This exhibition presents diverse paths of exploration. Some artworks start from natural scenery, and capture the lapses of time through repeated strokes. Some seek new balances between water- and oil-based materials. Some make paintings a vessel for memory and emotions through abstraction and historical themes.
Wang Jieyin, Plain Mountains and Distant Waters, 145x290cm, 2021
It does not require extensive knowledge of art history to understand these artworks. They invite viewers to slow down and observe — to taste the colors, rhythms, and breaths in the pictures. Treat this as a chance to look anew: at nature, at paintings, and at how we see. In the age of AI where images are widely replicated and rapidly consumed, viewing paintings may seem slow—yet because of that, it becomes valuable. The exhibition leaves the questions open rather than providing standard answers. As "the unfinished Cézanne" suggests, the meaning of paintings lies always in its continuous making.
Wang Shuye, Blank Spatiotemporal Phase of the Palace Museum-Instance-201, 177×234cm, 2024
Today, amid the increasing global cultural exchanges, it is hoped that the significant questions from the world art history could interact with contemporary Chinese creative practices in the public spaces of NMA. When you leave the museum, we hope you would take away not just the name of an artist, but a renewed viewing experience — in the unfinished, you might discover possibilities for continuous growth.
Xin Dongwang, Golden Marriage, 160×80cm, oil on canvas, 2008
Zhang Weiping
Director of Ningbo Museum of Art
