The largest-ever exhibition of Art in America opens at the National Art Museum in Beijing on February 10, 2007. [Photo/ CRI online]

It was about 13 years ago when Thomas Krens, director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the initiator of a number of international museums, came to Beijing to meet with former foreign minister Qian Qichen. Thomans Krens proposed hosting an exhibition in New York City covering 5,000 years of Chinese history. Not only did he make a partner in the foreign minister, also the Chinese leader said he would be pleased to see an exhibition on 300 years of American art in Beijing.

On February 10, 2007, at the National Art Museum in Beijing, the idea finally came to fruition. The largest-ever exhibition of Art in America held its grand premiere with the presence of China's Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng and US Ambassador to China Clark Randt.

After 10 years of preparation, the exhibition, which has never been mounted in the US, gathers over 130 works, including pieces from European collections, from 120 artists. Each plays an important role in American art history.