Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum explores the new while celebrating the past

Editor's note:

Architecture is frozen music, an epic of stone and a cultural monument. An art museum epitomizes this. In this "Art unfrozen: a journey through Shanghai's cultural monuments" series, we will guide you through an immersive experience, from the museum's special architectural style and gift shops to its cafeteria or coffee shops in the museum's neighborhood. Aiming to level up with the world's top museums such as the Pompidou Center in Paris, the Museum of Contemporary Art in New York, and the Tate in London, the art museums in Shanghai have been blossoming in the past decade. Visiting museums has become a lifestyle, a kind of social activity or recreation. The charm of an art museum permeates every corner. As well as the exhibitions inside, what else can visitors enjoy on a cozy weekend afternoon at a museum? Get ready for a museum trip!

Background

Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum Community (established in September 2018) consists of three venues, all located in historic buildings on the Bund.

Sited on the 6th floor of Bund 27, Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum is the main venue.

Here, the museum organizes a series of comprehensive and international art exhibitions targeting the outstanding works of international and domestic masters. Through the combination of art exhibitions in the historical buildings, the museum gives new vitality to the century-old buildings on the Bund.

The aim of Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum is to explore new modes of visual art expression while at the same time inherit the tradition.

Since its opening, the museum has organized many quality exhibitions to the public, including heavyweight names in art history such as Edvard Munch, Giorgio Morandi, Marc Chagall, and some renowned Chinese artists including Fang Lijun and Ding Yi.

Architecture style

Located in the century-old Jardine Matheson building, the building itself is listed as protected in Shanghai.

In 1843, Jardine Matheson opened a branch in Shanghai and acquired the land on Beijing Road E. a year later and built a two-storey building in the English country style.

In 1861, a brick building facing the Bund was renovated, making the old Jardine Matheson building the largest among the complexes on the Bund at that time.

The Jardine Matheson building, now at 27 Zhongshan Rd E1, was renovated again in 1922.

Covering an area of 2,100 square meters, the six-storey structure is one of the earliest reinforced concrete buildings in Chinese history.

The building was the second largest in the entire Bund complex, showing the status and financial strength of the bank at that time. Its architectural style was modeled after the British Renaissance, with Corinthian columns decorating the facade. The width of the building facing the Huangpu River was more than 50 meters, providing a splendid view from its balcony.

In the 1930s, the bank added another floor to the top of the building. As one of the important representative buildings in the Bund complex, Bund 27 is rich in facade, complete in layout, exquisite in material and decoration, with important historical, cultural and architectural value. As one of the national key cultural relics protection units, the building is also listed as one of the first batch of excellent historical buildings in Shanghai.

Dong Jun

Cafeteria

The museum doesn't have a cafeteria, yet an alternative is provided at the House of Roosevelt. Scenes from famous movie "Lust, Caution" directed by Ang Lee were shot in this bar. Sitting on the balcony outside, the Huangpu River scene in stretch is said to be one of the best views on the Bund. The unique scene is also reflected in the recent popular television play "Blossoms Shanghai" directed by Wong Kar-wai.

---

3 Photos  |  View Slide Show ?

• 
  Dong Jun
• 

  
  

• 

  
  

Gift Shops

There are various art derivatives sold at shops based on the exhibitions held by the museums. The best-sellers are:

1. The Morandi fridge-sticker

The fridge-sticker featuring the works of Morandi is the shop's best-seller, reflecting the charisma of the master to his Chinese art fans. The everyday objects under the brushstrokes of Morandi such as bottles and jars, create a quiet, harmonious and elegant atmosphere, and through subtle changes in color, tone, proportion and composition, engage in a dialogue with the depicted objects to reveal the inner nature of things.

2. Ice-cream

The ice-cream is inspired by the century-old historical building where the museum is now sited.

3. Fragrance of the autumn on the Bund

A co-branded collaboration with Risocial, a high-end natural and organic fragrance brand. The bottle applies the architectural elements of the Bund complex, with a hard and cool natural marble cap like the facade of the Bund buildings with different details.

If you go

Date: 10am-6pm (closed on Mondays)

Address: 6/F, 27 Zhongshan Rd E1

中山東一路27號6樓