Ning Wen’s Brush and Ink: Nanjing Exhibition (Opening Chapter)

On April 22, the “Ning Wen: Ink and Brush—Nanjing Exhibition” opened at Taihe Law Firm, showcasing fifty-three works by artist Dong Ningwen. The atmosphere was vibrant, with a full house and an abundance of distinguished guests.

This art exhibition is jointly hosted by the Jiangsu Provincial Association for Sino‑Foreign Social and Cultural Exchange, the Jiangsu Provincial Federation of Enterprises, and the Jiangsu Provincial Entrepreneurs Association, in collaboration with Taihe Law Firm, and organized by the Nanjing Zhengyatang Art Museum. It also receives support from the Jiangsu “Belt and Road” International Legal Services Alliance, the Cultural and Arts Special Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Chinese Association, the Jiangsu Provincial General Store of Cultural Relics, the Xinhua All‑Media Art Museum, the Nanjing Ten Dynasties Art Museum, the Suzhou Xu Beihong Art Museum, the Twenty‑Four Hours Art Museum, the Nanjing Yao Art Museum, Qunxue Academy, Qingxuan Academy, Kaijuan Academy, Xinmutang, and other partners.

Artist Dong Ningwen presided over the opening ceremony of this exhibition, expressing his gratitude to the organizers and co-organizers for their dedicated support. Julie, director of the Zhengyatang Art Gallery, introduced the distinguished guests in attendance and extended a warm welcome along with heartfelt thanks. Since 2016, Taihe Gallery has hosted more than ten exhibitions, each featuring works by renowned calligraphers and painters, earning significant acclaim within the art community.

Curator Cai Yuxi, former president of Jiangsu Literature and Art Publishing House, president of Yilin Press, and general manager of the Phoenix Terrace Hotel, delivered a speech. Mr. Cai reflected on every step of Dong Ningwen’s artistic journey: since his inaugural exhibition in Nanjing, in just a few short years, he has traveled across the country, achieving remarkable success wherever he went, and pioneering a new approach to literati painting—using writing to inform painting, cultivating the mind through art, forging friendships through brush and ink, and sharing beauty with like-minded peers. ‍‍‍‍‍

Qiu Zhongwen, former Director of the Jiangsu Provincial State-owned Assets Management Committee and Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Congress, announced the opening of the art exhibition!

Dong Ningwen presented a painting to the Nanjing Zhengyatang Art Museum, where Li Yuanyang, Director of the Taihe Management Committee, accepted the work and, on behalf of Zhengyatang, awarded Dong Ningwen a certificate of collection.

Li Zhaobin, a former professor at the PLA Naval Command Academy, expressed his great pleasure at being invited to attend this art exhibition, extending his congratulations on its resounding success and hoping that the Taihe Zhengyatang exhibition will continue to flourish.

Li Kun, former deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial State-owned Assets Management Commission and a first-class inspector, now serving as president of the Jiangsu Enterprise Federation, stated that this is his fourth time attending the Taihe Zhengyatang Art Exhibition. He has personally witnessed the event grow in scale and attract an ever‑increasing number of participants, expressing confidence that it will garner even broader attention and influence in the future.

Wang Ningsheng, former deputy director of the Jiangsu Provincial State‑Owned Assets Management Commission and a first‑level inspector, now serving as the specially invited president of the Jiangsu Enterprise Federation, remarked that this art exhibition was truly graced by distinguished guests and renowned artists. Dong Ningwen’s works, while rooted in the traditional freehand style, seamlessly integrate the aesthetic of the Jinling School and draw from diverse artistic traditions, rendered in the boneless painting technique to create compositions that are both stirring and deeply moving.

Xue Bing, a leading scholar of Nanjing’s local culture, a professional writer with the Jiangsu Provincial Writers’ Association, and former vice chairman of the Nanjing Writers’ Association, remarked that Dong Ningwen is both a writer and a painter, whose works use spare, evocative figures to convey boundless charm and profound artistic conception.

Renowned art critic, writer, poet, and collector Kong Xiangdong remarked that, though Dong Ningwen’s paintings incorporate new ideas, they nonetheless remain true to the essential spirit of literati painting: substance in expression, profound erudition, and refined elegance.

Renowned painter and writer Zhao Heng, a member of the Chinese Writers Association and the Chinese Artists Association, remarked that Dong Ningwen’s works embody a distinctive artistic realm through the harmonious fusion of poetry and painting, with a fresh style and an elegant aesthetic.

Renowned seal carver and calligrapher Su Jinhai, vice president of the Jiangsu Oracle Bone Script Association and vice director of the Nanjing Seal Society, remarked that nearly every one of Dong Ningwen’s works bears an inscription. These inscriptions, in the tradition of classical literati painting, embody the erudition that “accumulates ten thousand volumes of poetry and books within the heart.” Moreover, the inscriptions themselves are highly engaging and remarkably readable; this playful, literary quality is one of the most distinctive features of Dong Ningwen’s oeuvre.

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Wang Dongwei, general manager of the Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics General Store, stated that, coinciding with the third day of the third lunar month in the Year of Gui Mao, a distinguished gathering of scholars and artists had come together. The 1980s marked a pivotal period in the development of the New Literati Painting movement, and Dong Ningwen’s works are rich in the spirit and charm of this style. ‍‍‍‍‍‍

Internationally renowned painter, New York–based fashion designer, and overseas special representative of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Liang Qing, stated that Dong Ningwen’s works draw on literary cultivation to enrich his ink techniques, exhibiting a distinctive poetic elegance. They capture both the fluid grace of the Jiangnan landscape reminiscent of Wu Guanzhong and the majestic grandeur of vast rivers and mountains, and he extended his congratulations on the resounding success of this exhibition.

Guests delivered remarks, and the atmosphere at the scene was lively.

Director Ma Qun, Chief Partner of Taihe, delivered a speech, expressing his gratitude to Dong Ningwen for organizing this grand exhibition at both Taihe and Zhengyatang. He noted that the event represents a harmonious fusion of art and law, as well as history and jurisprudence. Director Ma extended his heartfelt thanks to Teacher Dong for choosing Zhengyatang and Taihe, and conveyed his sincere appreciation to all attendees.

Following the grand and well-organized opening ceremony, the “Ning Wen Brush and Ink: Nanjing” exhibition officially kicked off! Next, we’ll share some exciting behind-the-scenes highlights from the event.

Artist Biography

Dong Ningwen, who writes under the pen names Zicong and Shuosu, was born in Nanjing in the mid-1960s. He began studying painting in the early 1980s and, in the mid-1990s, turned to editing and writing. To date, he has published and contributed more than ten works, totaling over one million characters. He currently serves as executive editor-in-chief of “Kaijuan” and “Yilin Book Review,” is a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Writers’ Association, a director of the Nanjing Writers’ Association, and a contracted writer with the Nanjing Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

His major works include “Human Connections and Literary Affinities” (Southeast University Press), “Idle Chats Over Books,” Volumes 1 through 10 (published by Phoenix Publishing House, Yuelu Bookstore, Hunan Education Press, and Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House), “Idle Chats on Reading” and “Continuation of Idle Chats on Reading” (Wenhui Publishing House), “Ning Wen’s Freehand Brushwork” (Anhui Education Press), “The Lineage of Books and Human Bonds” (Qingdao Publishing House), and “Written by the Side of Reading” (Wenhui Publishing House), among others.

Since the 1990s, his calligraphy and painting works have been exhibited in national as well as provincial and municipal exhibitions, frequently earning awards, with over a hundred pieces now held in institutional and private collections. He has also mounted numerous solo exhibitions in Nanjing, Hefei, Haining, Suzhou, Liyang, Chengdu, Mianyang, Shijiazhuang, and other cities.

Event Media Support: Guangming Net, China.org.cn, Phoenix News, the “Study in China” platform, Tencent News, China Arts Net, Bohua Arts Net, China Artists Network, China Culture and Art Network, China Art Investment Network, Jiangnan Times, Deep Suzhou, Suzhou Art Chronicle, Yinli Bo, Jiaohuidian, China Fine Arts Daily, China Calligraphy and Painting Daily, Qingqing World Magazine, and Xiujiangnan Magazine.