Global art masterpieces showcase light, shadow and nature

"Masterpieces of the Pola Museum of Art: From Impressionism to Contemporary Art" is now on at Shanghai Museum (East Branch). The fifth exhibition of the museum's project "A Dialogue with the World," it will run through April 21.

It is also the first large-scale overseas exhibition of Japan's Pola Museum of Art.

The Pola Museum of Art was founded in 2002 in Hakone-machi, Kanagawa Prefecture, within the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. The museum's collection is recognized as the leading private art collection in Japan for the 21st century, distinguished by both its quality and quantity.

"The exhibition in Shanghai captures the essence and charm of the collection in its entirety," said Noguchi Hiroko, Pola Museum of Art director.

The exhibition takes light and shadow and nature as its clues, not only presenting the achievements of Impressionism in capturing the beauty of the moment, but also exploring its continuity and innovation in Fauvism, Cubism and even contemporary art.

Divided into six units, the exhibition features 69 masterpieces by 36 artists.

Aside from works from the Pola Museum collection, Shanghai Museum has borrowed artworks from the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, the Anhui Museum and the Liu Haisu Art Museum in Shanghai. The paintings by Liu Haisu (1896-1944), Pan Yuliang (1895-1977) and others will be displayed alongside paintings created in the 20th century by Japanese and other Asian artists that show how Western art, art education and artistic ideas influenced Asia's art scene.

Spanning from the seminal works of early French Impressionists such as Monet and Renoir, through the masterpieces of groundbreaking post-impressionists such as Paul Cézanne, Van Gogh, and Paul Gauguin, who were revered as trailblazers by modern painters, to the epochal creations of 20th-century masters such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, and Henri Matisse, the exhibition also presents the creations of the big names in the contemporary art world, including Wolfgang Tillmans, Hiroshi Sugimoto and Yayoi Kusama.

Monet's "Haystacks of Giverny" at the exhibition is the master's early piece painted with delicate brushstrokes and clear background. Compared with this work, his late haystacks become more abstract even with blurred shapes, leaving only an accumulation of color blocks and reflections of light and shadow to the viewers.

The spotlight of the exhibition is Van Gogh's "Bridge over the Glaze on the Canal du Vigéeira," one of the best collections at the Pola Museum. Created during Van Gogh's stay in Arles, southern France, the painting is distinguished with its bright hues and bold composition.

After visiting the exhibition, visitors can also "take part of their memories back home."

Shanghai Museum has developed a series of art derivatives for the exhibition, varying from canvas bags, toys, refrigerator stickers to notebooks and postcards.

If you go:

Date: Through April 21 (closed on Tuesday and National Holidays),10am–5:30pm

Venue: Shanghai Museum East Branch

Address: 1952 Century Avenue 浦东新区世纪大道1952号

Ticket: 80 yuan, booking can be made through the museum's WeChat mini program:上海博物馆参观预约 and its WeChat official account:上海博物馆