Exhibition of French Impressionism held in Shanghai

Shanghai Museum opens exhibition of French Impressionism.

Shanghai Museum opens exhibition of French Impressionism.

Shanghai is holding an exhibition featuring works of French impressionism. Authentic masterpieces created by famous artists like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir are attracting numerous aficionados, and the lines to get in are not for the feint-hearted.

Barbizon through Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute are unveiled at the Shanghai Museum on Thursday, Chinese Mid-Autumn Day. Visitors form a long line outside the museum, longing for a peek at masterpieces that take people back to a splendid era in the history of art.

But the waiting doesn't stop once you've entered the museum. The short pass to No. 2 exhibition hall is like a pilgrimage route for art lovers.

The exhibition begins with the landscape paintings of the Barbizon school and Impressionists, featuring representative works by Camille Corot, Jean-Francois Millet, and Theodore Rousseau. There are also paintings by Camille Passarro, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir, which witnessed the birth and maturation of Impressionism.

Some have even brought their telescopes to get a detailed study of the brushwork. The 73 paintings on display take hours for visitors to appreciate.

The exhibition is the result of a three-year collaboration between the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute and the Shanghai Museum. It runs till December.