China’s private art museums: Icons or empty vanity projects?

By Georgia McCafferty, for CNN
Updated 10:36 PM EST, Thu December 1, 2016
The Oct Design Museum by Chinese architectural firm Studio Pei-Zhu, in Shenzhen. The interior features a continuous white curved surface designed to prevent shadows.
Pei-Zhu —
The Oct Design Museum by Chinese architectural firm Studio Pei-Zhu, in Shenzhen. The interior features a continuous white curved surface designed to prevent shadows.
Studio Pei-Zhu
Billionaire Chinese businessman Lu Jun asked 20 of the world's leading architects and artists to design buildings for Sifang Art Park. This building was designed by New York architect Steven Holl and houses the main art collection.
Sifang Art Museum China —
Billionaire Chinese businessman Lu Jun asked 20 of the world's leading architects and artists to design buildings for Sifang Art Park. This building was designed by New York architect Steven Holl and houses the main art collection.
Courtesy Steven Holl Architects
The San-He Residence in Sifang Art Park was designed by Chinese architect Wang Shu. It was inspired by a traditional Chinese courtyard house.
Sifang Art Park —
The San-He Residence in Sifang Art Park was designed by Chinese architect Wang Shu. It was inspired by a traditional Chinese courtyard house.
Courtesy Sifang Art Museum
This house by Spanish architects Luis M Mansilla and Emilio Tunon creates the illusion of being outside in a forest clearing while indoors.
Sifang Art Park —
This house by Spanish architects Luis M Mansilla and Emilio Tunon creates the illusion of being outside in a forest clearing while indoors.
Katie Hunt/CNN
The Long Museum West Bund, in Shanghai, was designed by architect Liu Yichun of Shanghai firm Atelier Deshaus. It is owned by billionaire Chinese businessman Liu Yiqian and his wife, Wang Wei, who paid more than $170 million in November, 2015, for a painting by artist Modigliani.
Long Museum —
The Long Museum West Bund, in Shanghai, was designed by architect Liu Yichun of Shanghai firm Atelier Deshaus. It is owned by billionaire Chinese businessman Liu Yiqian and his wife, Wang Wei, who paid more than $170 million in November, 2015, for a painting by artist Modigliani.
Courtesy Long Museum
The Red Brick Art Museum, on the outskirts of Beijing, is funded by property developer Yan Shijie.
Red Brick Art Museum —
The Red Brick Art Museum, on the outskirts of Beijing, is funded by property developer Yan Shijie.
courtesy Red Brick Art Museum
While beautiful, the building remains largely empty of art. It was designed by Beijing architect, Dong Yugan.
Red Brick Art Museum —
While beautiful, the building remains largely empty of art. It was designed by Beijing architect, Dong Yugan.
courtesy Red Brick Art Museum
"Many architects have developed and transformed their practices due to the way they have worked on museums," says Jeffrey Johnson, architect and director of Columbia University's China Megacities Lab. "It's a very significant building type."
Red Brick Art Museum —
"Many architects have developed and transformed their practices due to the way they have worked on museums," says Jeffrey Johnson, architect and director of Columbia University's China Megacities Lab. "It's a very significant building type."
courtesy red brick art museum
The Museum of Handcraft Paper in a remote part of Yunan Province resembles a micro-village. The complex is made of several asymmetrical structures and was designed by Beijing-based Trace Architecture Office.
Museum of Handcraft Paper —
The Museum of Handcraft Paper in a remote part of Yunan Province resembles a micro-village. The complex is made of several asymmetrical structures and was designed by Beijing-based Trace Architecture Office.
Courtesy Aga Khan Award for Architecture
The M WOODS Museum in Beijing's 798 Art District was founded by young local collectors Lin Han and Wanwan Lei and houses mainly contemporary art.
M WOODS Museum —
The M WOODS Museum in Beijing's 798 Art District was founded by young local collectors Lin Han and Wanwan Lei and houses mainly contemporary art.
M WOOS Museum
The museum was founded by by Chinese-Indonesian businessman Budi Tek, and designed by acclaimed Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.
Yuz Museum —
The museum was founded by by Chinese-Indonesian businessman Budi Tek, and designed by acclaimed Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto.
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The Rain Room exhibition by the artists Random International.
Yuz Museum —
The Rain Room exhibition by the artists Random International.
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
The Today Art Museum in Beijing was founded by businessman Zhang Baoquan. An old industrial boiler house, the building was transformed into a museum by Chinese architect Wang Hui.
Today Art Museum —
The Today Art Museum in Beijing was founded by businessman Zhang Baoquan. An old industrial boiler house, the building was transformed into a museum by Chinese architect Wang Hui.
courtesy today art museum
The interior of the Today Art Museum in Beijing.
Today Art Museum —
The interior of the Today Art Museum in Beijing.
courtesy today art museum
The Rockbund, Shanghai, is one of China's better-known private art museums. It is housed in an old art-deco building carefully renovated for its owners by British architect David Chipperfield.
Rockbund Art Museum —
The Rockbund, Shanghai, is one of China's better-known private art museums. It is housed in an old art-deco building carefully renovated for its owners by British architect David Chipperfield.
courtesy rockbund art museum
The Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art was designed by Chinese architects, we architech anonymous (waa). Yinchuan is an industrial city in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwest China.
Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art —
The Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art was designed by Chinese architects, we architech anonymous (waa). Yinchuan is an industrial city in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, northwest China.
We Architect Anonymous
The museum lies next to the Yellow River and was funded by MinSheng Real Estate Development.
Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art —
The museum lies next to the Yellow River and was funded by MinSheng Real Estate Development.
We Architect Anonymous
Art museums around China

Story highlights

Architecturally stunning private art museums are booming in China

As China's billionaires mature, and their art investments grow, they are seeking unique ways to leverage their collections

But is it a desire to share culture -- or vanity -- that's driving the projects?

CNN  — 

Whether stunning collectives of 20 plus buildings, like the Nanjing Sifang Art Park, or singular architectural marvels, such as the Long Museum West Bund, Shanghai, the construction of private art museums is booming in China.

Driven by the expanding number of Chinese billionaire art investors hoping to leave a cultural legacy, government and municipal policy, and the financial and security disincentives that hinder donation of private art to public facilities, scores of spectacular new museums are being built each year at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Billionaire Chinese buisnessman Lu Jun asked twenty of the world's leading architects and artists to design buildings for his Sifang Art Park. These six concrete blocks were designed by Chinese dissident artist, Ai Weiwei.
Billionaire Chinese buisnessman Lu Jun asked twenty of the world's leading architects and artists to design buildings for his Sifang Art Park. These six concrete blocks were designed by Chinese dissident artist, Ai Weiwei.
Sifang Art Museum

But with architecturally beautiful buildings in remote provincial outskirts containing few – if any – significant artworks, questions are being raised about the breadth of content and curatorial guidance that many of these museums have access to, as well as the motivations behind their construction.

“In many cases architecture comes first and art comes second,” says Jeffrey Johnson, architect and director of Columbia University’s China Megacities Lab.

READ: Inside China’s largest contemporary art collection

Cultural catch-up

The number of museums being built in China by both the government and private individuals has exploded in in recent years, from 2,601 in 2009 to 4,164 in 2014, a 60% increase in just five years, according to the China Museums Association.

The growth in private museums has been even more rapid, increasing more than threefold over the same period to 864 in 2014.

China is, however, catching up from a very low base – just 25 museums existed when the Communist Party assumed power in 1949, many of which fell to ruin during the 10-year cultural revolution that began in 1966.

For comparison, the U.S. is home to more than 35,000 museums and related organizations, according to the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.

And just as America’s so-called “robber barons” such as Frick, Carnegie and Rockerfeller – names now synonymous with art and culture – helped cement some of America’s great museums, China’s newly wealthy businessmen and women are leading their own cultural charge.

READ: China’s aggressive museum growth brings architectural wonders

“In a culture that has been suppressed for so long, when things start opening up,