Museum Berggruen brings the best of modern masters to Shanghai

UCCA Edge is currently hosting an exhibition titled "Modern Time: Masterpieces from the Collection of Museum Berggruen/Nationalgalerie Berlin."

Organized in collaboration with Museum Berggruen, Berlin, one of Europe's leading museums, it features nearly 100 works by modern masters, including Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), Paul Klee (1879-1940), Henri Matisse (1869-1954), Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), Paul Cezanne (1839-1966) and Gorges Braque (1882-1973).

These works, covering painting, sculpture, paper-cuts and other media, are being shown in China for the first time, encouraging viewers to experience the evolution of modern art through styles such as cubism, surrealism, and other strands of abstraction.

The Shanghai exhibition is the third stop of Museum Berggruen's international tour after previous shows in Tokyo and Osaka.

It is presented in strict chronological order according to the completion of each work, thus highlighting breakthroughs that characterized the flourishing of creativity in Europe throughout the first half of the 20th century.

Aside from the artworks on display, visitors will discover that some of the artists were not exempt from the front-lines during World War I, which was one of the deadliest and most horrific battles in history.

Braque was drafted in 1914 and suffered a head wound shortly after, putting an end to his creative cooperation with Picasso on cubism. Matisse volunteered for service after not painting for almost a year but was turned down due to his advanced age.

In 1917, Klee was drafted, but he refused to let the war stop his creative activities. At his Gersthofen flight school desk, Klee drew and painted a series of watercolor poem drawings influenced by Chinese poetry that blended imagery and phrases. For example, "Awakening" celebrates his survival while also calling on humanity to ponder and rebuild itself after the disastrous war.

For many local art enthusiasts, the show reveals Klee's allure. More than 30 pieces make up the most complete exhibition of his work in China to date.

The exhibition includes works by Klee ranging from elegantly abstracted landscapes invoking cubism and bearing the impact of his time teaching at the Bauhaus to the humorous figuration of "China's Play" (1939).

Exhibition info:

Date: Through October 8 (closed on Mondays), 10am-7pm

Venue: UCCA Edge

Address: 2/F, 88 Xizang Road N.

西藏北路88号2楼