Feeding the frenzy for famous French and world art history

The Paths to Modernity: Masterpieces from the Musee d'Orsay, Paris exhibition in Shanghai is so popular that "even Van Gogh cannot squeeze into his own bedroom in Arles", according to visitors to the Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai.

The exhibition features more than 100 artworks from the French museum's core collection for a one-stop-only global showcase until Oct 12.

With works by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, Paul Cezanne, Edgar Degas, among others, the exhibition charts nearly all the important artistic movements of French art from the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, according to the exhibition's curator, Stephane Guegan, who is also a scientific adviser to the Musee d'Orsay's president.

People gather before the most recognizable key highlights, such as Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles and The Gleaners by Jean-Francois Millet, to take pictures and selfies.

"There is such a huge crowd in front of Van Gogh's bedroom that I don't think the artist himself could manage to get in there if he were alive today," says Da Yue, a user of the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, or RedNote.