Shanghai Rodin Art Center

The Shanghai Rodin Art Center is located at No. 1929, Expo Avenue, Pudong New Area, Shanghai. It is an art institution converted from the former French Pavilion of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and is currently presenting the major exhibition “Rodin: The Inheritance and Evolution of Modern Sculpture.”

The center’s main building covers more than 8,000 square meters, with 4,200 square meters of exhibition space. Its exterior features a structure that appears to float above the ground, creating a sense of lightness and modernity while also emphasizing the integration of the building with its surroundings. Elegant and natural in form, the distinctive architectural design allows visitors to enter the venue from all four sides, making it an open, connected, and welcoming space.

I once came across a line in a newspaper that read, “The greatness of a nation lies in the stature of its museums.” These words inspired Ms. Wu Jing to bring many precious works by Rodin all the way to China and establish the Shanghai Rodin Art Center from the ground up. During my visit, I was able to understand and appreciate the thoughtfulness and dedication of the entire curatorial and exhibition design team. This understated Rodin sculpture exhibition, which opened in 2024, is well worth a visit for art lovers.

As the culmination of more than two thousand years of traditional European sculpture and the creator of new sculpture in the 20th century, Rodin’s place in art history hardly needs further explanation. The exhibition begins with an introduction to Rodin’s life and traces his artistic journey. It also includes a map model marking the regions and museums around the world that currently hold collections of Rodin’s works, offering further evidence of his far-reaching artistic influence. This mode of presentation feels especially fitting in the context of sculpture.

The exhibition is divided into six sections. It begins with Rodin’s most important teacher, Carrier-Belleuse, and his works and then moves on to Rodin’s early sculptures, which were influenced by Renaissance sculpture, including a large number of mythological figures from both ancient and modern traditions. It then presents Rodin’s sculptures of figures from different eras, including Balzac, as well as his own friends, students, and lovers. The exhibition next introduces several renowned sculptors who were Rodin’s contemporaries and their works before turning to Rodin’s profound interpretation of tragic themes after his art reached maturity and finally to the reworking of his early pieces in his later years.

The exhibition generally follows a chronological sequence and traces the different stages of Rodin’s artistic development. Interspersed throughout are displays of Rodin’s personal collection of Chinese artworks, an introduction to the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle and Rodin’s solo exhibition there, as well as a photography exhibition by Sun Ruixiang and Jean-Yves Cousseau centered on Rodin’s sculptures. The exhibition includes many major original works, such as The Age of Bronze (large version), Eve (large version), Monument to Balzac, The Thinker (medium version), and the The Burghers of Calais series.

Overall, this is a highly worthwhile exhibition. The current ticket price is CNY 79 per person, and a visit takes approximately an hour and a half.