In collaboration with Museum Berggruen in Berlin, UCCA will present “Modern Time: Masterpieces from the Collection of Museum Berggruen / Nationalgalerie Berlin” in 2023. This exhibition contains an elaborate selection of twentieth-century art from Museum Berggruen’s unparalleled collection, all of which will be exhibited in China for the first time. With more than 40 works by Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) on display, “Modern Time: Masterpieces from the Collection of Museum Berggruen / Nationalgalerie Berlin” provides an all-encompassing overview of his artistic development. Also on view are over 50 works by Paul Klee (1879-1940) and Henri Matisse (1869-1954), including some fine examples of the latter’s paper cut-outs. In addition, the exhibition will highlight works by Georges Braque (1882-1963) and Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966), along with those of Paul Cézanne (1839-1906), one of the key figures of modern art, who had an enormous impact on all of the aforementioned artists. Taken together, the selection of works fully conveys the rich creativity and vitality in the art of these twentieth-century masters.

“Modern Time: Masterpieces from the Collection of Museum Berggruen / Nationalgalerie Berlin” is curated by Klaus Biesenbach, Director of Neue Nationalgalerie, Gabriel Montua, Head of Museum Berggruen, and Veronika Rudorfer, curator at Museum Berggruen, and is presented in collaboration with UCCA. The third stop of Museum Berggruen’s international exhibition tour following its debut in Tokyo and subsequent installment in Osaka, the exhibition will be on display at UCCA Edge in Shanghai from June 22, 2023 to October 8, 2023, and then travel to UCCA Beijing, where it will run from November 11, 2023 to February 25, 2024.

About Museum Berggruen / Nationalgalerie Berlin

As a member of Nationalgalerie and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (the Berlin State Museums), Museum Berggruen is one of the most important museums of modern art in Europe, world-renowned for its numerous outstanding exhibitions and its impressive collection of notable works by Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, Paul Klee, and Alberto Giacometti.

Museum Berggruen owes its name and origin to the art dealer and collector Heinz Berggruen (1914-2007). Heinz Berggruen began collecting art and opened his first art gallery in Paris in 1948, gradually building a world-leading private collection. In 1996, he was invited to present his collection in his hometown of Berlin, housed in the western Stülerbau opposite Charlottenburg Palace, known at that time as the Berggruen Collection and later renamed as the Museum Berggruen in 2004. After the death of Heinz Berggruen in 2007, his family agreed to make works available to the Nationalgalerie as permanent loans and to continue supporting the museum. Museum Berggruen is currently undergoing a three-year extensive renovation to improve visitor experience, with plans to reopen in 2025.