Shanghai Art Museum: May 29th 2012

The Shanghai Art Museum is so far my favorite art museum because of the pure and beautiful paintings it displayed. The museum wasn’t very big but it was filled with portraits and sceneries that were absolutely beautiful. It made me fall in love with the people of China and Mongolia and the style of their art. Their minimalist style is right up my ally because of its lack of color (or with one pop color), it’s simplicity and nature. Only what is important makes it into the painting: only what is necessary, only what is beautiful.

The gallery also included a lot of paintings displaying the minorities, which you don’t find much of around here because they are repressed. To me, the most interesting people to me are the very dark skinned Chinese that are begging for your money on the side of the corner. These people are minorities who grew up in the countryside working 365 days a year on a farm and came to the city, most likely out of desperation. You can see their hardship in their faces with all the wear on their skin and the smiles they still seem to find even if their situation.

This gallery displays them in their own homes with smiles on their faces, proving to the world that they are too human and how they live is their culture, what they know and what they love.

On a side note: I saw a side of China yesterday that I will never forget. I am kicking myself because I didn’t take a picture. We were walking home and we passed this woman who was leaning against the wall with raggidy clothes and no shoes. In her arms was a baby boy, maybe the age of three. The baby boy was cuddled in the arms of his mother. The boy looked very comfortable, but in order for her son to be comfortable, she couldn’t lay down, she had to stay leaning up against the wall. It was quite incredible.