ABOUT

Founded by Taikang Insurance Group, Taikang Art Museum is a non-profit institution located in the core area of Beijing CBD, dedicated to researching and collecting modern and contemporary Chinese art. It focuses on modern Chinese fine arts since the 20th century, contemporary art, and emerging art forms leading into the future, emphasizing a historical approach to viewing, studying, and collecting contemporary art. It aims to comb through and present the relationship between Chinese art and the country’s development over the past century, offering an artistic perspective on China’s turbulent modern history.

As the predecessor of the Taikang Art Museum, Taikang Space was founded in 2003 by Taikang Insurance Group (formerly known as Taikang Life Insurance Co., Ltd.) and has received the latter’s ongoing support. As one of the pioneers of non-profit contemporary art institutions in the Chinese mainland, Taikang Space adheres to the academic ideal of “Retrospection and Encouragement”, which means “looking at history in the present and facing the future.” It examines and explores China’s modern and contemporary art practices and analyzes the relationship between art and the historical changes across Chinese society since the 20th century by means of the exhibition, collection, research, and publication that are interconnected and mutually reinforcing. Transforming from Taikang Space to Taikang Art Museum, it will be a public altruistic platform, serving every creator and appreciator for the understandings and pursuit of beauty.

With the goal of becoming a representative art museum of Chinese contemporary art, Taikang Art Museum, a new institution with 20 years’ academic accumulation, upholds a more open and friendly attitude, proudly promoting Chinese contemporary art ecology and contributing to the cultural development of Beijing with fellow institutions. Let art integrate into public life and tell the story of China’s development through art.

Taikang Collection is an art collection system gradually established by Taikang Insurance Group, based on modern financial enterprise management and supported by the Taikang Art Museum’s academic research framework. It serves as a solid foundation for the Taikang Art Museum’s exhibitions, academic studies, and social aesthetic education.

Taikang Insurance Group is one of the first financial enterprises in China to engage in contemporary art collection. Guided by the Taikang Art Museum’s academic concept of “approaching and studying contemporary art through a historical perspective,” the group has been dedicated to collecting Chinese contemporary art for over 20 years. As a result, it has built a collection with significant art historical value and scale, including iconic works and key works by representative artists from critical stages in art history.

The Taikang Collection focuses on early Chinese photography from the late 19th century, modern Chinese painting since 1905, realist art, and other forms of art. It also includes milestone works from contemporary art after China’s reform and opening up, as well as the most current new artistic practices. The collection also values the gathering and research of relevant historical artistic archives and documents. Through exhibitions, public events, research, and publishing activities at the Taikang Art Museum, Taikang Collection has become an organic entity with sustainable vitality in art production. It offers more possibilities and solutions for understanding Chinese contemporary art, while further advancing art production and industry development.

In 2015, as the only mainland Chinese case, Taikang Collection was featured alongside collections from internationally renowned enterprises such as J.P.Morgan Chase & Co., UBS Group AG, Deutsche Bank AG, Cartier, and AXA Insurance, in the book Global Corporate Collections published by Deutsche Standards Publishing House.