From Jan. 2 to April 15, 2018, the Jan van der Togt Museum featured the special exhibition "Walasse Ting: The Amsterdam Years".

Xiongquan Ding, better known as Walasse Ting, (Shanghai, October 13, 1928 - New York, May 17, 2010) was a Chinese-American painter. He left China in 1946, lived briefly in Hong Kong and settled in Paris in 1953. There he met Karel Appel, Asger Jorn and Pierre Alechinsky. In 1957 he settled in New York, where his work was influenced by pop art and abstract expressionism.

From 1989 he lived alternately in New York and Amsterdam, where he had a studio with Appel. In 2002 he fell into a coma after a brain haemorrhage, after which he was cared for in Amstelveen. Ting died in New York at the age of 81.

The exhibition focuses on the years in which Ting lived and worked in Amsterdam. The work from this period is characterized by bright tropical colors in which Chinese symbolism, such as lotus flowers and patterns, are incorporated. It is the first time that this period has been shown in such a large extent in a museum. There are approximately 80 original works by Ting from various private collections. The exhibition is supplemented with never-before-seen personal postcards and photos. It provides an insight into the special and flamboyant life of this colorful artist.