Exclusive exhibition to feature the art greats
An invaluable collection of masters, including Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Modigliani, Chabaud and Dali will go on display at the Hong Kong Museum of Art at the end of the month.
Entitled 'Artists and Their Models', the 58 paintings, sculptures and installations from the Centre Pompidou in Paris are on loan exclusively to the museum from September 30 to December 3.
The exhibition is expected to surpass last year's 'Impressionism: Treasures from the National Collection of France' in scale and cost. The 47 French Impressionist paintings from the Musee d'Orsay had an estimated value of HK$4.6 billion and the exhibition, which attracted more than 95,000 visitors in two months, cost the Museum of Art HK$10.2 million to stage.
For security reasons, organisers of the forthcoming exhibition declined to reveal the value of the collection or the insurance figure. But the museum's chief curator, Tang Hoi-chiu, said it would 'definitely cost no less' than the Impressionism display.
'This is not a touring exhibition that happens to be passing through Hong Kong. This is [put together] exclusively for Hong Kong,' he said, adding that renovation of one of the museums at the Centre Pompidou had freed up works to be shown outside, making this exhibition possible.
Through the collection, which spans the 20th century, the exhibition explores the relationship between the artist's model and the final work of art. It also looks at how artists used their models in different art movements.
A smaller, educational exhibition, comparing the relationship between artists and their models in western and Chinese paintings, will be presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Centre Pompidou, in collaboration with the French consulate. It will include talks and workshops.
