To get a sense of the remarkable growth of the Chinese contemporary art market, look no further than the artist Zeng Fanzhi.

Mr. Zeng, 51, has seen his work bring in the second-highest price for a living Chinese artist, according to Artnet. In 2013, his 2001 tribute to Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” sold for $23.3 million at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, setting what was then a record auction price for a work by a contemporary Chinese artist.

Last weekend, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing unveiled “Zeng Fanzhi: Parcours,” a major retrospective that runs through Nov. 19. The exhibition covers nearly three decades and features works central to the artist’s oeuvre, including his early “Hospital” series, which Mr. Zeng painted based on memories of a hospital where he used the toilet because he did not have one at home. It includes his “Masks” series, which depicts well-dressed urbanites wearing white masks, a commentary on China’s rapid social transformation in the mid-1990s, and his haunting, thicket-filled abstract landscapes. And, for the first time in China, the show displays Mr. Zeng’s most recent works — a series of ink on paper — which signal a shift by the artist toward an engagement with ancient Chinese painting.

In an interview, Mr. Zeng discussed traditional Chinese culture, China’s art market and mixing politics and art.