IT’S surprising that Liu Yiqian, owner and founder of Long Museum (West Bund), is curating an art exhibition for the first time. Titled “Ye Maozhong Art Exhibition,” the four-month exhibition sets sail for Liu’s maiden voyage as a curator.

Liu said he was so taken by Ye’s art that he felt compelled to take the plunge and curate a show for the first time. The exhibition features 150 of Ye’s artworks over the past decades.

“Ye’s art is influenced by his life-time passion for collecting the art of modern Chinese masters such as Fu Baoshi, Xu Beihong and Huang Binhong, all of whom represent milestones in Chinese modern art,” Liu said at the exhibition’s opening. “His collection of modern paintings and calligraphy is enormous and incomparable.”

Ye developed an interest in art at an early age. When he was four, his father drew a boat on the back of a cigarette box, which triggered his interest in painting.

In middle school, Ye assisted his art teachers with Chinese landscape and flower-and-bird paintings.

He went on to study stage design at Jiangsu Drama School, where one of his professors — Tai Qiyou — was a student of Fu Baoshi.

Influenced by his professors and Fu Baoshi, Ye absorbed the artistic language of Shi Tao, Bada Shanren, Wang Meng and Huang Gongwang.

“I’ve always been fascinated with paintings from the Song and Yuan dynasties,” Ye said. “In my eyes, paintings from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) express artists’ interest in nature, while paintings from the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) are about self-nurturing. Even though I’ll never be able to paint as well as some of my predecessors, I still yearn for the spirit and feel of those works.”

Dates: Through December 28 (closed on Mondays),10am-6pm

Tickets: 60 yuan (which includes three other exhibitions at the museum)

Venue: Long Museum (West Bund)

Address: 3398 Longteng Avenue