The "Ninety-nine Reforms: Wang Lanruo Art Exhibition" jointly sponsored by the Chinese Artists Association, Beijing Academy of Fine Arts, and Nanjing University of the Arts will open at the Shanghai Long Museum (West Bund). At the same time, there will also be a themed academic seminar featuring "Shanghai Art School and Chinese Painting". After being exhibited at the Art Museum of Beijing Academy of Fine Arts and Shantou Museum in 2014, this exhibition is the first exhibition in Shanghai, where Wang Lanruo once studied. It is also the first large-scale retrospective exhibition held after the death of Wang.

Wang Lanruo (1911-2015) is a long-lived artist with powerful works. This exhibition not only presents all the important works of Wang Lao's life in flashback, but also displays more than 20 masterpieces created by him when he was 105 years old. These old and naive works themselves are telling a legend in the Chinese painting circle.

Wang Lao's life spanned the late Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China, New China, so he was a Chinese painter who had experienced vicissitudes but never changed his heart. This exhibition presents his rich artistic history through nearly a hundred works and documents from his mentorship, communication, sketching, and reforms. He was also good at landscapes, flowers, birds and figure paintings. At the age of 99, he brought dramatic changes in his painting styles to complete his "Ninety-nine Reforms".

Wang Lanruo has lived in the family which made traditional Chinese medicine and has succeeded in poetry and calligraphy since childhood. During his studies in Shanghai, he was taught by many famous artists such as Huang Binhong, Liu Haisu, Xie Gongzhan, Zhu Wenyun, Zhu Lesan, Pan Tianshou, Wang Gefang, etc. In 1935, Wang Lanruo, who graduated from Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, returned to his hometown to teach. Art education has since become the most important career besides artistic creation. In addition to educating people, he still did not forget to follow the ancients diligently, from Lingdong to Shanghai School and back to the Song and Yuan Dynasties. He integrated practice of Chinese and Western painting, and then taught them to the younger generations. The first part of the exhibition displays the works of Wang Lanruo during his studies and the ancient works.

The next section pays attention to Wang Lanruo's lifelong learning from nature, and how he turned sketching into an important source of his works. It includes Wang Lanruo’s sketches, manuscripts of different periods. Those sketches represent Wang Lanruo’s persistent artistic pursuit.

The last section of the "Ninety-Nine Reform" actually refers to the new changes in the style of painting that started when Wang Lanruo was ninety-nine years old. Besides, ninety-nine is the auspicious number in China. The "Nine-Nine Reforms" means that an artist has reached the highest point of life and art. During the winter of 2008, Wang Lanruo, who was in recent years, accidentally fell and suffered a severe brain injury. His body was very weak, his memory and language skills were greatly degraded. When he recovered, he changed his painting style completely. The learning experience from Lingdong has laid a good foundation for Wang Lanruo, and teaching is a process of reflecting on what he has learned and then feeding it out. The decades-long sketching and creation allowed him to do whatever he wants while writing things. The success of the "Ninety-Nine Reforms" comes from long-term accumulation and practice. Chinese painting is difficult, it is difficult to master its skills. Long-lasting kung fu, noble character, beautiful sentiment, and comprehensive learning are indispensable.

"Ninety-Nine Reforms: Wang Lanruo" will be the most thought-provoking and memorable exhibition of Long Museum (West Bund) in the autumn season. This exhibition does not only show Wang Lanruo's art, but also a living model that triggers visitors to rethink the development of Chinese art.