China Art Museum

The China Art Museum, Shanghai, also known as the Shanghai Art Museum, is a municipal art museum located in Pudong, Shanghai, People's Republic of China. Housed in the former China Pavilion of Expo 2010, it is a public welfare institution funded by the Shanghai City Culture and Tourism Bureau. The museum is one of the largest art museums in Asia and serves as a major repository and exhibition venue for Chinese modern art, drawing nearly two million visitors in its first year of operation.

The institution traces its origins to the Shanghai Art Museum, established in 1956 in a former restaurant on West Nanjing Road. The building was completely rebuilt in 1986. On 18 March 2000, the museum relocated to the former Shanghai Race Club building on People's Square, which had previously housed the Shanghai Library until 1997. This move increased exhibition space from 2,200 to 5,800 square meters.

Shanghai hosted Expo 2010 from 1 May to 31 October 2010. The China Pavilion received close to 17 million visitors and remained open for six additional months due to its popularity. On 13 November 2011, the Shanghai Municipal People's Government announced that the China Pavilion would become the new home of the Shanghai Art Museum, which would be renamed the China Art Museum, Shanghai. Meanwhile, the Urban Future Pavilion was converted into the Power Station of Art, a municipal contemporary art museum.

The China Art Museum, Shanghai and the Power Station of Art both opened on 1 October 2012, China's National Day. The former Shanghai Race Club building remained open until 31 December 2012, receiving more than 12,000 visitors in its final two days. The new building spans 64,000 square meters, more than ten times larger than the previous facility.

The China Art Museum holds a collection of approximately 14,000 artworks, primarily focused on Chinese modern art. The collection and exhibition program emphasize the development of Chinese modern and contemporary art from the late Qing Dynasty through the present, with particular attention to the Shanghai School and the fusion of Chinese and Western artistic traditions. The museum's holdings span painting, sculpture, and photography, and its exhibition program balances permanent displays with a robust schedule of special exhibitions.

The museum's permanent exhibitions anchor its collection. "The Bright Moon Rises from the Sea, Origin of the Chinese Modern and Contemporary Art" (海上生明月, 中国近现代美术之源) is a permanent exhibition curated by Lu Fusheng that chronicles the development of modern and contemporary Chinese art beginning with the Shanghai School at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Divided into three periods, Qing, the Republic of China, and the People's Republic of China, and ten units across two floors, it displays more than 6,000 works of art. The Exhibition for Noted Painters (名家艺术陈列专馆) is another permanent exhibition showcasing works by seven major modern Chinese artists. The first phase features He Tianjian, Xie Zhiliu, and Cheng Shifa from the Shanghai School; Lin Fengmian, Guan Liang, and Wu Guanzhong, pioneers of blending Chinese and Western art styles; and Hua Tianyou, a founder of modern Chinese sculpture. Additional exhibitions have included works created for a three-year government project from 2010 to 2013 encouraging art about Shanghai's historical and cultural development, and "The Picturesque China, Developing Chinese Fine Art in the New Century," a year-long exhibition of 21st-century works by more than 260 Chinese artists that ended on 30 September 2013. The museum also hosted special exhibitions in its first year including Taiwanese art, the second Shanghai Photography Exhibition, and works by Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet from the Musée d'Orsay.

The museum occupies the former China Pavilion of Expo 2010, located in the Zhoujiadu Subdistrict of Pudong. Construction began on 28 December 2007 and was completed on 8 February 2010. At an estimated cost of US$220 million, it was the most expensive pavilion at the Expo. The 63-meter structure, the tallest at the Expo, is nicknamed "the Crown of the East" for its resemblance to an ancient crown.

The building was designed by a team led by architect He Jingtang, who drew inspiration from the Chinese corbel bracket known as dougong and the ancient bronze cauldron called ding. The pavilion's 64,000 square meters of space represent a dramatic expansion from the museum's previous facilities.

The China Art Museum is located at 205 Shangnan Road in Pudong, Shanghai. It is served by its own station on Shanghai Metro Line 8, and is also accessible via Yaohua Road Station on Lines 7 and 8, as well as more than a dozen bus lines. Admission is free except for special exhibitions, which cost 20 yuan. The museum is closed on Mondays except for national holidays. As a municipal institution funded by the Shanghai City Culture and Tourism Bureau, it continues to function as a public welfare institution dedicated to exhibiting and preserving Chinese modern art.