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French art show in China suspended in Ukraine war backlash for Beijing’s stance on the conflict

  • Weeks before it was to have opened in Beijing, a major exhibition of works by French painter Henri Matisse has been called off by its Chinese organisers
  • The publicly owned Matisse Museum in France suspended its loan of 280 works following the invasion of Ukraine and cited China’s ties with Russia

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Self portrait (1918) by Henri Matisse, one of the nearly 300 works by the French artist selected for the exhibition “Matisse by Matisse” at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing that has now been suspended. Photo: Succession H Matisse 2021
Enid Tsui

China has suffered a cultural backlash for its refusal to join in condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A local administration in France has scrapped a loan of artworks by Henri Matisse for a major exhibition this month.

On Thursday its organiser officially suspended the exhibition of Matisse paintings, drawings and lithographs that was to have opened on March 26 in Beijing, before moving to Shanghai.

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The organiser, the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, said it was “actively working with partners in France in hopes of rescheduling the exhibition”.
Grande tête de Katia (circa 1950) by Henri Matisse, one of the works the Matisse Museum in France had agreed to loan to the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. Photo: Succession H Matisse 2021
Grande tête de Katia (circa 1950) by Henri Matisse, one of the works the Matisse Museum in France had agreed to loan to the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. Photo: Succession H Matisse 2021

The show, “Matisse by Matisse”, had been billed as the largest solo exhibition in China of works by the French painter, one of the masters of modern art.

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