Showtime returns

"Outstanding international art exhibitions are an indispensable part of the economy, because people in China need more access to good art, and a large number of new art museums, especially private museums in China need quality exhibits," he adds.

Picasso has proved to be especially popular with Chinese audiences, as evidenced by the series of exhibitions featuring his works held over the past decade in China. Among the exhibits at this latest showcase are a series of ink illustrations Picasso did for a book on bullfighting.

"The expressions will resonate with Chinese audiences, and we are able to see how a genius like Picasso absorbed artistic vocabulary and made it his own," says Wang.

A jewelry art exhibition titled Van Cleef & Arpels: Time, Nature, Love also kicked off on July 1. The showcase, which runs to Oct 7, features more than 300 jewelry items, watches and other objects.

On Friday, an exhibition of works by Italian artist Giorgio Morandi is held at Jiushi Art Museum at No 27 on the Bund. Across the Huangpu River at Aurora Museum, the collection of the Rockefeller Art Foundation is unveiled on the same day.

The Bund One Art Museum has also announced its itinerary that contains big-name shows such as masterpieces from the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rome from Sept 15 to Jan 8 and Uffizi Self-Portrait Masterpieces from Sept 9 to Jan 8.