Chen Yifei's paintings unboxed at Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai

Four oil paintings were unveiled as a sneak peek of the upcoming Chen Yifei retrospective at the Museum of Art Pudong. Among them, the most personal piece, My Neighbor, had been kept in London by a private collector. This painting depicts a corner of Chen's ancestral home, evoking his deep nostalgia for his roots. Yifei would invite my parents to dinner every year after the painting was done. My mother and father both loved Ningbo painting, and they were so familiar with the sound of it. So the story of Ningbo was brought to life in his eyes when he was a child. In fact, going back to the theme of this painting, he missed his parents in this way. No matter where you go, Mr. Yifei is very important. He is a man of the land, of the air, of the sound, and of the land. As a successor and pioneer of haipai culture, Chen Yifei spent several pivotal periods of his career in Shanghai. His painting Lady with Birdcage appeared in a hit TV series, Blossoms Shanghai, instantly transporting viewers to the neon-lit nostalgia of the 20th century. Merging realism with photographic elements, the piece captures a hazy, dreamlike beauty reminiscent of vintage film. The exhibition will open on April 26, bringing Chen Yifei's masterpieces back to the city that shaped his vision.