Famous Monet paintings on show
Nine paintings by impressionist master Claude Monet that are rarely exhibited abroad are on show in the Bund. Zhang Kun reports.
One of the best-known artworks of all time, Claude Monet's oil painting Impression Sunrise is on display at the Bund One Art Museum in downtown Shanghai until Jan 3, 2021.
Created in 1872, Impression Sunrise depicts the rapidly changing light and mist during sunrise at the port of Le Havre in France. The painting is one of the most treasured pieces of the Marmottan Monet Museum in Paris and is rarely exhibited abroad.
Named after the painting, the exhibition features 47 pieces of artwork, with nine original paintings by Monet, including two from the Charing Cross Bridge series, On the Beach at Trouville, Boats in the Harbor at Honfleur and Falaise et Porte d'Amont par Gros Temps.
Also on exhibition are several Japanese prints that Monet and other featured artists drew inspiration from, as well as paintings by such modern artists as Vicky Colombet and Gerard Fromanger.
These new works are in "resonance with the impressionists in the modern age", says Marianne Mathieu, the executive director of the Marmottan Monet Museum Paris, explaining that the exhibition is aimed at presenting impressionism in a historical perspective and reflecting its impact on today's artists.
Marmottan Monet Museum Paris is the largest collector of Monet's works, most of which were donated by the artist's son, Michel.
"By giving its name to impressionism in the late 19th century, Impression Sunrise came to symbolize the aspirations of a small group of artists who, in the main, painted directly from the subject, in natural daylight," Mathieu writes about the painting.
