Shanghai: Art of the City

This stunning art, culture and history book profiles China’s most prolific and dynamic city.

Shanghai’s tumultuous history has resulted in the progressive and stylish city of today. For more than a century and a half artists have been both documenting the city’s changes and leading its way into the future.

Timed to coincide with the Shanghai World Expo in 2010 (and a city-wide Shanghai Celebration in San Francisco, its sister city), Shanghai catalogs the first exhibition to explore one of China’s most cosmopolitan cities. A case study in cultural globalization, the book traces, through its art, factors behind the city’s distinctive character.

Lavishly illustrated, this oversized book features 128 oil paintings, Shanghai deco furniture and rugs, revolutionary posters, works of fashion, movie clips and contemporary installations. These artworks, drawn mainly from the collections of the Shanghai Museum, the Shanghai Art Museum, the Shanghai City History Museum and the Lu Xun Memorial Hall, include the most significant visual documents of the city’s rich and ever-changing culture.

Michael Knight, Senior Curator of Chinese Art and Deputy Director for Strategic Programs and Partnerships at the Asian Art Museum, is author or co-author of many books, including Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty, Later Chinese Jades: Ming DynastyûEarly Twentieth Century, and The Monumental Landscapes of Li Huayi.

Dany Chan, Curatorial Assistant in Chinese Art at the Asian Art Museum, attended Brown University, where she received her masters in Chinese Art History. Her research interests include textiles, decorative arts and modern Chinese art.