A Pudong museum hosts exclusive showcase of famous works from a leading European institution, Zhang Kun reports.

Horsewoman, Full-Face, by Edouard Manet, 1882. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Shanghai's Museum of Art Pudong is showcasing 70 paintings by some of the world's greatest artists. Titled The Greats of Six Centuries: Masterpieces from the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, the exhibition is the first all-painting showcase at the museum, as well as the first large-scale international exhibition of the Thyssen Museum, a relatively young institution established in 1992 in Madrid, Spain.

"The exhibition marks a further step in the Museum of Art Pudong's quest to become a new landmark in Shanghai's cultural scene, as well as a platform for international exchanges," says Li Minkun, chairman of the museum.

Ambassador of Spain to China Rafael Dezcallar said at the opening of the exhibition on June 22 that the showcase is part of celebrations for the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and Spain.

Portrait of a Young Man, by Raphael and assistant, 1518-19. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The Thyssen-Bornemisza collection consists of 775 paintings that provide an encyclopedic overview of Western art and feature most European styles from the 14th to 20th centuries as well as those from the United States.

According to Evelio Acevedo, managing director of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, the 70 paintings "form a tableau of Western art from the Renaissance to postwar European and American art, allowing local audiences to see how life and society in the West have changed over the past 600 years".

Guillermo Solana, artistic director of the Thyssen Museum, said the museum and the Museum of Art Pudong are already discussing long-term collaborations and that more exhibitions in Shanghai are being planned.

Guillermo Solana, artistic director of the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, talks about Ruben's Venus and Cupid, as he guides visitors around the exhibition on June 22. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Solana pointed out that the new exhibition was specifically tailored to suit the Shanghai museum and that it will not be held in another location. He added that although the private Thyssen-Bornermisza collection went on show in China in the 1990s before it was acquired by the Spanish state, the artworks featured at the current exhibition have never been shown in the country before.

Divided into eight sections, the exhibition features masterpieces that cover diverse genres, including portraits, landscapes, still lifes and customs. The exhibition documents the development of Western art from the Renaissance in the 15th century to Cubism in the 20th century and encapsulates a plethora of pivotal art movements and styles, including works of Mannerism, Baroque, Rococo, Romanticism, Realism, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and Expressionism.

Among the artists whose work is featured are Raphael, Peter Paul Rubens, Edouard Manet, Vincent van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky, Marc Chagall, Georgia O'Keeffe and Andrew Wyeth.

Landscape with the Rest on the Flight into Egypt, by Joachim Patinir, 1518-24. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Solana gave two lectures on the first weekend of the exhibition, one on the women depicted in the exhibition, and the other about the history of landscape in Western art.

During the former, he spoke about the image of a horsewoman painted by Manet (1832-1883) and said the character, thanks to Manet's technique of free brush-strokes, has "an androgynous look of apparent spontaneity and freshness", and that the black costume she is wearing reveals the artist's mastery of black tones.

Back in 2011, the painting was featured as a highlight in Manet, the Man Who Invented Modernity at the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, and the painting was chosen as the key visual for the publicity. A poster featuring the iconic image attracted widespread interest in the exhibition.

Describing the portrayed character as someone who appears strong, independent and confident, Solana believes the woman in the painting will resonate with local audiences in modern Shanghai.

The Grand Canal from San Vio, Venice, by Canaletto, 1723-24. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Another work Solana talked about in his lectures was The Stevedores in Arles, which was created by Vincent van Gogh in 1888. The Dutch artist arrived in Arles in February 1888 to paint the Midi region, and he eschewed pointillist and Impressionist methods in favor of more synthetic forms and louder colors.

The opening of the Thyssen Museum showcase on the second floor means that the Museum of Art Pudong's exhibition spaces are fully occupied for the summer months. The Shape of Time: Art and Ancestors of Oceania from The Metropolitan Museum of Art on the first floor continues to Aug 20, while Liu Heung Shing Lens, Era, People, a solo exhibition by the photographer Liu Heung Shing, will be held till Dec 17.

The Greats of Six Centuries: Masterpieces from the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza is not the first showcase of works by renowned Western artists in the city this year, an indication that the interest in Western artworks among Shanghai audiences is growing. A few months ago, Shanghai Museum logged a record number of visitors with its exhibition, From Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London.

Portrait of the Emperor Charles V, by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1553. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Over at UCCA Edge, the Modern Time: Masterpieces from the Collection of Museum Berggruen/Nationalgalerie Berlin showcase, which started on June 22 and runs till Oct 8, features about 100 works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Henri Matisse, Alberto Giacometti and Paul Cezanne that are being shown in China for the first time.

At Powerlong Museum, the exhibition, 400 Years of Western Figure and Portrait Paintings, featuring 60 paintings from the collection of the Tokyo Fuji Art Museum, is being held until July 23.

At Bund One Art Museum, Botticelli and the Renaissance, the largest showcase of works by Sandro Botticelli in China, runs till Aug 27.

If you go

The Greats of Six Centuries: Masterpieces from the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza

June 22-Nov 12, 10 am-9 pm (last admission at 8 pm)

Museum of Art Pudong

2777 Binjiang Avenue, Pudong New Area, Shanghai

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn