2022/01/05
While many of us may be familiar with the Changning Library and even may have the experience of sitting on its first floor enjoying a cup of coffee and surfing on the Internet, or reading books and magazines on the second floor, maybe fewer have noticed the exhibition hall on its third floor, where various regular exhibitions of art works are held and available for the visitors, all are free! It is worth mentioning that Shanghai Russian Plastic Arts Museum is also located at the third floor of the Changning Library since its opening in 2007, where more than 400 selected pieces of oil paintings and sculptures from the over 1000 pieces of Russian realistic art works of the 20th century collected by the overseas Chinese couple Fan Jianxiang and Zeng Jianhua in Russia, among which there are paintings by master artists including B.A.CepoB, Moiseyenko and A.A.Milnikov.
Focusing on the theme of war, many of the works exhibited in the exhibition hall are painted by famous artists in the middle and late 20th century and is rich in considerable historic and artistic values. The most precious sculpture among all the exhibits is the 1:20 miniature replica of the “Workers and Collective Farm Women”. Originally designed for the Russian Pavilion for the 1937 Expo in Paris, the sculpture displays a young man and woman, in the air of firmness and confidence, holding a sickle and a hammer, the national emblems of the former Soviet Union, and walking with great strides. The original piece is 24.5 meters high sitting on a pedestal of 34.5 meters high, which vividly represents the achievements attained in the national industrialization and agricultural collectivization in the former Soviet Union in the 1920s and 30s with its strong artistic appeal. As the landmark of Moscow, the original work can still be found at the All-Russian Exhibition Center.
The third floor of the Changning library is not only a site for regular exhibitions, it also once served as the branch venue for Shanghai International Photography Festival and hosted the art work exhibition themed with "War and Peace" in memory of the 65th anniversary of the anti-fascist war won by people all over the world. Few ever know that the Shanghai Russian Plastic Arts Museum is also the display base for the selected art works provided by the Russian Repin Art Academy, where not only the works of the teachers or students from the Russian Repin Art Academy are exhibited, but also the exhibitions including the new generation of Russian realism painters’ works such as the “Individual exhibition for Kalyuta” and the “Oil Paintings Exhibition of Saint Petersburg’s Spring” were held.
If you are tired after reading on the second floor, it is advisable to take a rest on the third floor of the library, where you may find unexpected beauty of art.