The turn of the 19th to the 20th century witnessed a wave of art movements aimed at reforming classical Chinese painting in the context of modernism, including those in Beijing and neighboring Tianjin that collectively formed the Beijing-Tianjin school.

While much of the spotlight has been on the group's more prominent members of Beijing, painters in Tianjin, a city now recognized for its relaxed urban character, have likewise continued to carry forward the ink-painting tradition through both artistic creation and education.

A current exhibition at the Henan Art Museum in Zhengzhou, set to conclude on Tuesday, presents traditional-style paintings by the faculty of the Chinese painting department at Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, illustrating the school's enduring legacy of inheritance and continuous reforms in the ink realm.