Pudong opens new top-class art museum

The Museum of Art Pudong opens on July 6. [Photo/WeChat account: pdnews]

A much-anticipated new art museum -- the Museum of Art Pudong -- opened on July 6 next to the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower in the financial hub of Lujiazui.

The art museum covers an area of 13,000 square meters, of which over 10,000 square meters are used for exhibitions. It boasts 13 exhibition halls that can hold up to three large exhibitions at once.

Construction on the museum started in September 2017. It was designed by French architect and Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Jean Nouvel, with the Shanghai Lujiazui Development (Group) Co responsible for its construction and operation.

A series of art exhibitions are already scheduled to be held at the museum.

Ophelia, one of the most popular collections of Tate Britain in London, is displayed at the Museum of Art Pudong. [Photo/WeChat account: pdnews]

Ophelia, one of the most popular collections of Tate Britain in London, are displayed in one hall on the first floor of the museum. It is the first time the collection has ever been displayed in China.

Opheliais a painting by British artist Sir John Everett Millais, completed in 1851 and 1852. It depicts Ophelia, a character from William Shakespeare's playHamlet, singing before she drowns in a river in Denmark.

Hundreds of collections of Tate Britain will also be displayed on the third floor of the museum. The exhibition is meant to show how artists throughout the ages capture the fleeting effects of light and shadow. It features works by John Constable, Joseph Mallord William Turner, and Yayoi Kusama.

The exhibition "Meet the Unknown" is made by Chinese artist Cai Guoqiang. [Photo/IC]

The museum's central exhibition hall -- the 34-meter-high X Hall -- houses the exhibition "Meet the Unknown" by Chinese artist Cai Guoqiang.

At the opening ceremony, Xu Erjin, the company's general manager, said the museum will be developed into a public art gallery for art education, tourism, leisure, and academics.

Li Guohua, deputy director of Pudong New Area, said he believed the art museum will become another iconic cultural landmark of Shanghai.

The museum will be open to the public from July 8.