A visitor observes a calligraphy work of Jin. [Photo by Li Zhong/Hangzhou Daily]

A major exhibition celebrating Jin Nong (1687–1763), a leading figure of the Qing dynasty's "Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou", has opened at the Zhejiang Art Museum as part of its year-end exhibition program.

Titled Jin Nong's Art World: A Reclusive Spirit amid the Mundane, the show marks the first time a Hangzhou-born artist has been featured in the museum's flagship Chinese Classical Masters series.

Born near the Qiantang River in Hangzhou, Jin was a pioneer of stele-inspired calligraphy and a trailblazer of literati painting. The exhibition brings together more than 200 works of calligraphy, painting, and archival materials borrowed from 20 museums nationwide, making it the largest and most comprehensive exhibition to date around Jin.

Organized around the idea that one tree is an ecosystem, the show highlights Jin's distinctive seal script-inspired "lacquer calligraphy", his late-blooming yet influential painting practice, and his lifelong tension between worldly survival and a reclusive artistic ideal.

The exhibition presents Jin's full artistic trajectory and underscores his lasting influence on later masters such as Zhao Zhiqian, Wu Changshuo, and Qi Baishi.

A portrait of Jin. [Photo by Li Zhong/Hangzhou Daily]