Impression, Sunrise and Camille Monet with a Child in the Artist's Garden in Argenteuil are among works by French impressionist artist Claude Monet for the upcoming Chengdu high-tech show.(Photo provided to China Daily)
Technology is being used to bring works by Western masters to smaller Chinese cities.
A multimedia show on the life and works of Claude Monet, a Western master of impressionism, will tour four cities in China starting in April, with its debut in Chengdu in Southwest China's Sichuan province, instead of in Beijing or Shanghai, which are typically the priority locations when Western masters are introduced here.
The high-tech show Monet's Impressionism will have about 400 high-resolution works of the master. When walking through the 1,800-square-meter show venue, visitors will experience the master's life in five parts－his early works, his meeting with impressionist friends and his wife Camille, the origins of his impressionism, his acceptance by the art world and his career.
Through three special sections, Rouen Cathedral will be brought to life－from canvas to reality－and Monet's water lilies will bloom in a pond.
Using 3-D technology and motion graphics, Korean production company BonDaVinci animates Monet's garden, his water lilies and other iconic images in the master's paintings.
The Korean production company says in an e-mail to China Daily that audiences can "travel back" to Monet's hometown to see how he created his masterpieces.
Children can also play with golden fish in the ponds full of water lilies in Monet's painting.
Visitors can even "meet" Monet who will be seen painting beside them.
The show ran in South Korea last year and was successful, says the Korean company. The show will also tour Thailand and Japan.
"There are many companies globally producing such multimedia shows of Western masters. We bought it from the Korean company because it's good and the 'experience' part is a core aspect for Chinese audiences," says Hu Liangzi, general manager of Xiaochengbao, a company that stages children's plays in China.
Hu's company decided to buy the multimedia show after an exhibition of Monet's original paintings held at a Shanghai art museum inside a shopping mall created waves in 2014.
Hu says the company brought the show to China to attract families and offer them a different but interesting way to learn about art. She hopes this will take them to museums, which they often think are far removed from their daily lives.
To cater to the Chinese market, the show gives a lot of exposure to three of Monet's paintings－Impression, Sunrise; Water Lilies and The Japanese Bridge and Woman With A Parasol. These are Monet's three best-known works in China, according to a survey.
The Monet show is the second such program of Western masters in China, following last year's Van Gogh Alive produced by an Australian company.
Also, last year, the Van Gogh museum said it would bring another such show to China this year.
"I think the market for such shows on Western masters can run for the next 10 years. This is because Chinese demand for cultural and art shows is growing," says Hu.
Unlike many Westerners who have received art education since childhood and visit museums often, the Chinese are just starting to go to museums and developing a sense that they need art in their lives, says Hu.
That's why she decided that the first stop for Monet's show in China would be the second-tier city of Chengdu, the panda hometown, rather than Beijing or Shanghai, where people are bombarded with many art shows and performances.
"Residents in Shanghai and Beijing have many choices when it comes to cultural life, but people in second-tier cities have very few choices," says Hu.
The show will tour Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. But there are chances that it will go to other second-tier cities or even third-tier cities, says Hu.
The interesting aspect about the digital shows of Western masters in China is that many of them are held in shopping malls instead of museums or exhibition centers.
The Monet show in Chengdu will be held in a shopping mall. Last year, the Van Gogh show was held in a popular shopping mall in Beijing.
Hu says shopping malls are good places for these kind of shows as people who would typically go and see a film there can now pay a similar price and yet have a totally different experience.
"Claude Monet is the best choice when introducing Western art masters to second-tier cities. His works, compared with others, can be understood by most Chinese given his beautiful use of light and his subjects like water lily, a flower that the Chinese are fond of," says Hu.
The Monet show in Chengdu will run from April 9 to July 8. Ticket sales began last week and about 1,000 were sold within a short time.
"We expected a lot of demand. The Chinese love Monet when it comes to art just like they listen to Chopin when it comes to Western music," she says.
