Rebuilding the Bund.Photo: Cai Xianmin/GT?

The Shanghai Style Art Museum claims to be the first of its kind in China – a privately funded space for Shanghai-inspired works dating from the 19th century to the present day.

The newly opened museum's first show features around 90 paintings created after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The works detail the changes the country has undergone during the last 60 years.

For example, a 1957 painting entitled Chopping Stones in Dan Well by He Tianjian shows workers digging through hills to lay train tracks in Jiangxi Province. Another 1960s' work Rebuilding the Bund by Xie Zhiguang depicts a busy Shanghai construction site at the Bund.

According to Lu Fushen, chief editor of Shanghai Fine Art Publisher, Shanghai-style painting dates back to the last days of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911) with artists such as Wu Changshuo and Ren Bonian. Lu said that at that time Shanghai was China's financial and cultural hub, attracting painters from all over the country.

To increase the popularity of their work, painters in Shanghai chose subjects that related to ordinary people. They also used brilliant colors and tried out new drawing methods.

In this way, the Shanghai style of painting was more accessible to ordinary people, compared to the work of painters at the imperial court, for example.

"Nowadays, the Shanghai style no longer refers to a specific painting style," said Pan Yaochang, a professor at the Art Department of Shanghai University. "But the spirit behind it remains the same. It highlights innovation and independence. It is hard to define Shanghai-style painting, because it is an open and developing art. Generally, Shanghai-style painters refer to those who pursue their individuality and have studied or lived in Shanghai," he said.

According to the founder of Shanghai Style Art Museum Wan Junchi, many Shanghai-style painters have sought to move away from their previous styles of creating art.

For example, he said that Zhang Guiming, a Shanghai-style painter working in the mid-20th century decided to start painting flowers after he had made a reputation for himself as a figurative painter. Another painter Huang Binhong, working in the early 1900s, changed her style of painting at about the age of 70, concentrating on making dense and dark landscape paintings.

The highlight of Wan Junchi's collection is a series of eight figurative paintings by Ren Bonian valued at more than 60 million yuan ($9.18 million), according to Wan.

Wan said he plans to hold about eight large-scale Shanghai-style painting exhibitions annually in the museum. The next one is expected to feature 60 masterpieces from some of the top Shanghai-style painters of the last century.

Date: Until April 26, 9:30 am to 5 pm

Venue: Shanghai Style Art Museum?海派美術館

Address: 291 Fumin Road,?Shanghai 富民路291號

Admission: Free

Call 6170-1311 for details