The global financial crisis wouldn't seem to bode well for art gallery startups, what with rent, overhead and the unpredictable art market. What will people buy? Will art collectors spend less?

"Many of my friends warned me about the bad financial situation," says undaunted and optimistic Zhang Jun, owner of the recently opened Simply Noble Gallery in Gubei area, Changning District.

The fare isn't "hot" contemporary art - who knows what will happen with that? Instead, the art is realistic, traditional yet modern.

The opening exhibition features traditional ink-wash and oils by Wang Yuhong, Lu Jiren, Zheng Hao and Sun Weihua. Works depict goddesses in the Dunhuang grotto sculpture and frescoes, small canal towns in southern China and tranquil still-life scenes from the 1970s.

Gallery owner Zhang says he is tired of his former life as a businessman, and doesn't worry too much about the global financial squeeze.

"Of course, earning money is the goal of every gallery, and I am not rich enough to say I don't care," says Zhang. "But sometimes there is something more important than money."

Simply Noble Gallery, just 240 square meters over two floors, is cozy, not commercial. There's an inviting tea room where visitors can spend an hour or a leisurely afternoon surrounded by the Oriental art world.

"If I happen to be in, I'm always pleased to talk to visitors," says Zhang. "I always look forward to talking to different people about art. Talking about art was one of my intentions in opening the gallery."

"Perhaps it was time for me to take a long vacation," he says of his move into the art world.

He hasn't chosen popular Chinese contemporary art to cater to the market.

"I don't want to lie to myself - I just don't like it," he explains, "even if it does make big money."

There are many types of good art, he says, but now it seems some people consider traditional art inferior to contemporary art.

The same issue of popularity and viability is pondered by Wang Yuhong, a young "realistic" artist who struggles between her real passion for realism and the tough reality that contemporary art sells.

"I feel that I am outside the mainstream, just because I am painting something not popular," she says. "I am rather desperate. Sometimes I even think of quitting."

Zhang has given her work a home. Her still-lifes convey a feeling of nostalgia and passing time, with their chipped bowls, worn-out books and coal oil lamps.

"Some comment that my paintings are like old cliches," Wang says. "On the surface, still-life paintings are about objects, but each artist conveys a different emotion and message. Still life paintings can still be modern."

She was lucky to meet gallery owner Zhang who shares many of her views.

"Perhaps we don't stand for the prevailing art," Zhang says, "but at least we make a voice, a true voice of our own in this gallery."