See Inside Centre Pompidou's Shanghai Portrait Show

The French museum, which loaned 300 works for the exhibition, recently inked a new partnership deal with a contemporary art museum in AlUla, Saudi Arabia.

A major exhibition of portraits from Centre Pompidou's collection is now open at the Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum project space on the west bank of Shanghai's Huangpu River.

Mirrors of the Portrait opened on 21 July and continues through 5 November 2024. Works stretching back to 1895 are arranged by themes—'In Colour', 'Disfiguring', and 'Hats Off!'—rather than chronology.

René Magritte, The Cripple (1948). Oil on canvas mounted on plywood. 59.5 x 49.5 cm. © Adagp, Paris, 2023. Photo: Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Jean-Claude Planchet.

They include René Magritte's pipe-covered 'cripple', Jean Dubuffet's vinyl on resin Papa gymnastics (1972), and Huang Yong Ping's doubled portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci and the Mona Lisa.

Mirrors of the Portrait is the third exhibition created in the agreed five-year collaboration. It follows The Shape of Time in 2019 and The Voice of Things in 2021. Emmanuel Macron visited Shanghai for the opening of the space in 2019.

Jean Dubuffet, Papa gymnastics (1972). Vinyl paint on laminated resin. 227 x 107 cm. © Adagp, Paris, 2023. Photo: Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI / Jacques Faujour.

While the Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum project will soon end, the French museum has been actively pursuing similar collaborations around the world.

Centre Pompidou is partnering with a controversial new contemporary art museum in AlUla, Saudi Arabia, adding to its operations in Shanghai, Metz, Malaga, and Brussels. Another location, Centre Pompidou x Jersey City, is slated to open in the United States next year.

Huang Yongping, Mona-Vinci (1986–1987). Oil on cut canvas, wood, metal, glass, paper, light bulb. Light box: 33 x 28 x 13 cm. Canvas: 165 x 126 cm. © Adagp, Paris, 2023. Photo: Georges Meguerditchian.

Former Whitechapel Gallery Director Iwona Blazwick, who is now employed by the Saudi Kingdom, recently told The Art Newspaper that the Saudi museum is quickly building its own collection.

They've acquired works by Yayoi Kusama, Carmen Herrera, Manal AlDowayan, Etel Adnan, and Ibrahim El-Salahi.

Exhibition view: Mirrors of the portrait: Highlights of the Centre Pompidou collection, West Bund Museum, Shanghai (21 July 2023–5 November 2024). Photo: Alessandro Wang.

'We are negotiating an agreement that the Pompidou can borrow from our collection and that we can borrow from theirs,' she said. 'It's all about reciprocity.'

Back in Paris, the Centre Pompidou will close for repairs from 2025 to 2030. The work, which includes removing asbestos and overhauling the building's exterior, is estimated to cost US $243 million. —[O]