As well as reflecting French cultural diplomacy, China’s growing art market clout and western institutions’ reluctant acceptance of Chinese censorship, the Centre Pompidou in Shanghai is an ideal choice for a weekend outing with a two-year-old.
“I was [surprised] by the quality, especially by the Picasso paintings,” says Emily Zhang, 35, emerging from the gallery after taking her daughter to see its opening weekend. Middle-class art fans like Zhang, who have travelled to Paris without visiting the Pompidou, are the target for the state-run French museum’s outreach effort, which hosts dozens of works from its collection of modern art.
The museum opened last week in Shanghai’s West Bund district during an annual art fair, where visitors to museums that have recently sprouted along the city’s Huangpu Riverfront mixed with middle-aged joggers and teenage skateboarders. The museum is housed in a 22,000 sq metre iridescent glass building designed by British architect David Chipperfield, who described it as “generic”. Its blocky white form creates a series of jutting balconies with views on to the wide river.