It is a public welfare institution funded by the Shanghai City Culture and Tourism Bureau.

The Shanghai Art Museum was established in 1956 in a former restaurant on West Nanjing Road and was completely rebuilt in 1986.

[8] Owing to its popularity, the China Pavilion was reopened for six extra months after the end of the Shanghai Expo.

[9] The new building of the art museum, which is the China Pavilion from Expo 2010, spans 64,000 sq.

[11] Construction for the China Pavilion of the Shanghai Expo began on 28 December 2007, and the building was completed on 8 February 2010.

[11] "The Bright Moon Rises from the Sea – Origin of the Chinese Modern and Contemporary Art" (海上生明月—中国近现代美术之源) is a permanent exhibition that chronicles the development of contemporary and modern Chinese art, starting with the Shanghai School at the end of the Qing Dynasty.

The first phase features the works of seven artists: He Tianjian, Xie Zhiliu, and Cheng Shifa from the Shanghai School; Lin Fengmian, Guan Liang, and Wu Guanzhong who pioneered the blending of Chinese and Western art styles; and Hua Tianyou, a founder of modern Chinese sculpture.

In its first year of operation it hosted more than a dozen special exhibitions including Taiwanese art, the second Shanghai Photography Exhibition,[20] and Gustave Courbet and Jean-François Millet from the collection of the Musée d'Orsay of Paris.