World-famous museums are coming to Shanghai
Several world-class museums are hosting exhibitions in Shanghai this year:
Uffizi Galleries of Italy
Centre Pompidou of France
Prado Museum of Spain
National Galleries of Scotland
National Museum of Egypt
Keep reading for more information about these museums and their exhibitions!
Uffizi Galleries of Italy
The Uffizi Galleries in Italy is renowned for its collection of Italian Renaissance artworks by Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, and others, alongside sculptures from ancient Greece and Rome. This impressive collection has earned the Uffizi the nickname the “Treasure Trove of Renaissance Art”.
On March 28, the highly anticipated exhibition Titian's Flora: Venetian Painting from the Uffizi Galleries opened at the Bund One Art Museum in Shanghai.
Titian's Flora, one of the most iconic paintings by the Italian Renaissance master, is among 49 paintings showcased in the exhibition.
The exhibition features eight original paintings by Titian, alongside representative works by other Venetian school masters such as Giorgione, Tintoretto, and Veronese. Some of the exhibits are on tour for the first time.
This is the third exhibition created under the agreement signed in 2021 between Tix-Media and the Uffizi Galleries. According to the agreement, the two parties will host 10 exhibitions at the Bund One Art Museum within five years.
The fourth exhibition The Last Aristocrats: The 18th Century Masterpieces from the Uffizi Galleries Collections will open to the public at the Bund One Art Museum next week.
Featuring 80 original artworks from the Uffizi Galleries, the exhibition brings together masterpieces from over 50 artistic masters, including Francisco de Goya, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Canaletto, François Boucher, Jean Siméon Chardin, and Francesco Guardi.
Through various mediums such as painting, aristocratic jewelry, handicrafts, and sculpture, the exhibition vividly presents the rich artistic heritage preserved by the House of Medici.
Titian's Flora: Venetian Painting from the Uffizi Galleries
Location: Bund One Art Museum
Address: No 1 Zhongshan Road East, Huangpu district
Dates: Until July 28
The Last Aristocrats: The 18th Century Masterpieces from the Uffizi Galleries Collections
Location: Bund One Art Museum
Address: No 1 Zhongshan Road East, Huangpu district
Dates: April 12-Aug 25
Centre Pompidou of France
The Centre Pompidou is located in Paris, France, and boasts one of the largest collections of European modern and contemporary art, making it one of the world's two largest modern art museums. It is a must-visit cultural attraction in Paris, offering a panoramic view of the city while appreciating artworks.
In 2019, when the West Bund Museum opened in Shanghai, it reached an agreement with the Centre Pompidou to host three semi-permanent exhibitions through 2024. These exhibitions showcase more than 700 artworks from the National Museum of Modern Art of France, presenting a comprehensive view of modern art history.
The West Bund Museum is hosting the exhibition Mirrors of the Portrait featuring 300 artworks from the Centre Pompidou’s collection.
The exhibition, ongoing through Nov 5, is the third installment of a five-year collaborative project between the Centre Pompidou and the West Bund Museum, following The Shape of Time and The Voice of Things.
Another major exhibition for this year Lucid Dreamscapes: The Journey of Sound will open on April 26. This exhibition will focus on cutting-edge international sound art, showcasing nearly 30 significant new media artworks from the Centre Pompidou's collection. Through classic works in the history of sound art and the latest vibration experiments, this exhibition offers an extraordinary journey into the depths of consciousness that has never been "heard" before.
Mirrors of the Portrait: Highlights of the Centre Pompidou collection
Third semi-permanent exhibition
Location: West Bund Museum
Address: No 2600 Longteng Avenue, Xuhui district
Dates: Until Nov 5
Lucid Dreamscapes: The Journey of Sound
Location: West Bund Museum
Address: No 2600 Longteng Avenue, Xuhui district
Dates: April 26-Sept 17
Prado Museum of Spain
The Prado Museum is a world-class museum located in Madrid, the capital city of Spain. It derives its name from the nearby green area where it is situated. In Spanish, "Prado" translates to "meadow" or "field", referring to the lush surroundings of the museum.
Starting on April 23, the Museum of Art Pudong will host this year’s blockbuster exhibition, featuring the largest-scale showcase ever held in China by the Prado Museum, titled Ages of Splendor: A History of Spain in the Museo del Prado. This exhibition is custom-designed for the Museum of Art Pudong and promises to be a unique global event.
Featuring 70 original paintings carefully selected from the prestigious Prado collection, this exhibition will unveil 16 artworks that will be leaving Spain for the first time, with nine pieces being displayed outside the confines of the Prado for the first time.
Among the highlights of the exhibition are masterpieces by approximately 50 eminent artists, including Titian, Paolo Veronese, Peter Paul Rubens, Francisco de Goya, and more.
Ages of Splendor: A History of Spain in the Museo del Prado
Location: Museum of Art Pudong
Address: No 2777 Binjiang Avenue, Pudong New Area
Dates: April 23 - Sept 1
National Galleries of Scotland
The Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art was established in 1960 and is a key component of the National Galleries of Scotland. Over the following three decades, the gallery curated a rich collection of surrealist art, including works by masters such as Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, Joan Miro, Jean Arp, Alberto Giacometti, and others.
The Museum of Art Pudong is currently hosting the exhibition Fantastic Visions: 100 Years of Surrealism from the National Galleries of Scotland. This exhibition presents treasures from the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art to domestic audiences for the first time, representing the collaborative effort between the Museum of Art Pudong and the National Galleries of Scotland.
This is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of surrealism ever held in China, highlighting the wild imaginings and infinite possibilities of everyday objects.
The exhibition features more than 120 artworks by 50 leading surrealist artists and writers, including iconic works by the likes of Salvador Dali, Dorothea Tanning, Rene Magritte, Max Ernst, Joan Miro, and Leonora Carrington.
Fantastic Visions: 100 Years of Surrealism from the National Galleries of Scotland
Location: Museum of Art Pudong
Address: No 2777 Binjiang Avenue, Pudong New Area
Dates: Until Aug 31
National Museum of Egypt
The world-famous National Museum of Egypt boasts the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world. It houses over 300,000 historical artifacts dating from ancient Egyptian pharaohs to the 6th century, with around 63,000 artifacts on display.
Starting on July 19, the exhibition Top of the Pyramids: Ancient Egyptian Civilization Exhibition will be presented at the Shanghai Museum in People's Square. This exhibition represents the largest display of Egyptian artifacts outside the North African country.
Over 95 percent of the artifacts will be making their debut in Asia, with almost all of them being displayed in China for the first time.
The exhibition features 787 artifacts from various periods of ancient Egyptian civilization, carefully selected from multiple Egyptian museums including the National Museum of Egypt, Manial Palace Museum, Luxor Museum, Ismailia Museum, and Suez National Museum.
Notable exhibits include the statues of Amenhotep IV and Tutankhamen from Egypt's 18th Dynasty (16th-13th century BC), a mummy portrait from the Ptolemaic period (305-30 BC), and a wooden coffin recently unearthed in Saqqara.
Top of the Pyramids: Ancient Egyptian Civilization Exhibition
Location: Shanghai Museum
Address: No 201 People’s Avenue, Huangpu district
Dates: July 19, 2024-Aug 17, 2025
Sources: Bund One Art Museum, West Bund Museum, Museum of Art Pudong and Shanghai Museum
