Glorious impressions of France |
http://www.sina.com.cn 2004/12/16 10:02 上海英文星报 |
The Treasures of Impressionism from France SHANGHAI Art Museum is holding its most valuable exhibition ever. The exhibition, one of the most important events in the "French year in China," which started in October, is called "The Treasures of Impressionism from France" and includes 50 paintings with a total value of 500 million euros. "The Piper" by Edouard Manet, the most valuable single work, alone is worth 46 million euros. Shanghai Art Museum (SAM) has taken special security measures to ensure the safety of the treasures. No bags or cameras are allowed in the exhibition hall. An electronic alarm system will keep visitors at some distance from the paintings. SAM has also altered the arrangement of the exhibition halls on the ground floor especially for this show. The walls have been painted a light grey colour, to better set off the paintings. Most of the exhibits come from the Musee d'Orsay, one of the top three museums in France. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Shanghai people to see these masterpieces at home," said Claude Hudelot, the cultural consul of the French Consulate. Stricter regulations will be adopted next year that will make it difficult to transport such works out of France. The exhibition received 320,000 visitors in Beijing. Li Xiangyang, executive director of SAM said that his worst headache was having to restrict the admission of visitors while trying to allow as many visitors as possible to see the show. "Mr Lemoine (Serge Lemoine, Curator of Musee d'Orsay) made a requirement that only one visitor is allowed for every three square metres of space," Li said. "This means our museum can accept no more than 4,000 visitors every day. We will talk with Mr Lemoine, and see if he can relax the requirement." To allow more visitors in, SAM has extended its open hours until 8 pm every day. Impressionism is a glorious chapter in Western art history, and probably the most familiar art school to Chinese. "Only when I was faced with the original works did I realize the great colour difference from the printed copies." said Li Xu, artistic director of SAM. "The colours and shades are of key importance in Impressionism works," he said. For most Chinese art lovers who have learned about impressionism from prints, the full charm of the paintings will be revealed to them for the first time. "I remember copying from the 'Portrait of a Young Woman' by Edgar Degas," Li said. "The colour was like that of soy sauce, very different." For some important artists, more than one painting is shown, giving a clue by which to trace the artists' development. The Treasures of Impressionism from France Through January 19, 2005 Shanghai Art Museum 325 Nanjing Xilu Tel: 6327-2829 20 yuan (5 yuan if you have a student's ID) at the door or reservation. By Yvonne Zhang |