How great thou art

Song Art has a long stretch of lawn on which stands a two-story white row building and 199 pine trees. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Myriam and Guy Ullens, a Belgian couple who are keen art collectors, sponsored the building of the country's first nonprofit, privately funded art museum, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, in the 798 Art District in Beijing, which opened in 2007. From its founding it set an example to Chinese art collectors, whose ranks were being swelled by wealthy entrepreneurs, on how to manage a private cultural institution.

Many private museums were built and opened after 2010, mostly in Beijing and Shanghai, the mainland's two major art centers. Behind this wave stand several deep-pocketed collectors who have been successful in business such as Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei, the couple who founded Long Museum in Shanghai, and Budi Tek a Chinese Indonesian who opened the Yuz Museum in the city, thus demonstrating his support for contemporary Chinese art.

The art market boom in China after 2010 allowed such wealthy local collectors to scale up and diversify their collections, which have extended from Chinese art and antiques to modern and contemporary Western art.

These collectors have been keen to present their bulging treasure troves to the public in a decent way, and that has been a driving force in the establishment of private museums, says Guan Yu, director of the Art Market Monitor of Atron in Beijing, which is part of the Atron Art Group in Shenzhen.

Owners of the private museums are largely rich and young collectors from well-off families, she says, and they draw great satisfaction in sharing their collections and being able to express their personal tastes in art at the same time.