Rockerfeller Foundation exhibitions open
Pablo Picasso's "Mother and child" lithograph, 1901
To make up for the last three months of silence in the local art scene, "Masters of Western Art: The Collection of the Rockefeller Art Foundation" and "Giorgio Morandi," two heavyweight exhibitions, were unveiled last week in Shanghai.
Running at the Aurora Museum in the Pudong New Area through September 25, "Masters of Western Art: The Collection of the Rockefeller Art Foundation" is also the debut official collaboration exhibition of the Rockefeller Art Foundation in China.
It showcases more than 100 works created by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Salvador Dali (1904-1989), Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920), Giorgio Morandi (1890-1964) and Arman Pierre Fernandez (1928-2005) – five renowned Western artists. The works span from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century.
Ranging from oil paintings, watercolors, prints, porcelain to installation and publications, the artworks displayed are chosen from different eras, genres and backgrounds in Western art history.
As one of the most innovative sculptors in the 19th century and one of the founders of Nouveau Realism, Fernandez was much influenced by Dadaism.
The exhibition features his most iconic works. The artist used the method of disassembling stringed instruments and then harmoniously integrating them into a sculpture to illustrate his unique views on music.
It also highlights Picasso's ceramics, lithographs and linocuts including his works "Le Matador," "Mother and Child" of the Blue Period. As one of the most prominent artists in the history of Western modern art, Picasso initiated several painting schools such as Cubism, Neoclassicism and Surrealism which have had a profound influence on the history of Western modern art.
Amedeo Modigliani's "Red hair girl in evening dress" print, 1915
A close friend of Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani is one of the representative painters of the School of Paris in the early 20th century. Modigliani utilized Paul Cezanne's method of expressing morphological structure and elongated the images through exaggerated deformation. It is interesting that the exhibition displays his own depiction of "Portrait of Pablo Picasso."
Many are familiar with Dali's surrealism, and "Twelve Signs of the Zodiac" is a highlight which features a group of ceramic plates drawn with constellation patterns by Dali.
Giorgio Morandi was a master of metaphysical painting, and his artworks have lured visitors for more than half a century. His painting has a tonal subtlety in depicting ordinary subject such as cups, plates vases and cans. The globally popular "Morandi's color" was named after the hues in his still lives.
This exhibition showcases some of his "Bottle" and "Landscape" series.
"I am essentially a painter of the kind of still-life composition that communicates a sense of tranquility and privacy, moods which I have always valued above all," Morandi said.
Exhibition info:
Date: Through September 25 (closed on Mondays), 10am-5pm (10am-9pm on Fridays)
Venue: Aurora Museum
Address: 99 Fucheng Rd, Pudong New Area
Tip: Appointment required. Make reservation on the museum's WeChat account.
