Imperfect picture

The show Anselm Kiefer in China comes into media spotlight even before its opening on Saturday, because the German artist whose works are on show, accused the organizers of excluding him from the process. CHEN YAN/CHINA DAILY

"The show is completely legal," Li said.

The exhibition only shows the German artist to Chinese audiences and does not involve sales, she added.

A special ticket for the show was 60 yuan ($8) in contrast with a general ticket of 10 yuan on Saturday, when long lines of people waited outside the museum before the opening.

Li said it took them two years to prepare the show and that they had informed Kiefer and his studio about it.

"We invested heavily to bring the show to China," Li said.

But she refused to talk about the amount of money they spent on it.

In his email to China Daily, Kiefer said that he "wasn't consulted about this planned exhibition of my work in China".

Wang Huangsheng, director of the art museum at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, said it's not easy to hold a show of Kiefer, because his works are usually large. For example, the largest work for the Beijing show is about half a ton in weight and up to 5 meters in height.

The museum issued a statement on Friday in response to Kiefer's general media statement. It said the show complied with the law and was authorized by both individual and institutional collectors as the German co-organizer said. The statement said it chose to stage the show because of respect for the artist and also with the aim of bringing an important show to the academy.

Fan Di'an, president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, told a media conference in October that he had long been eager to introduce Kiefer's works in China and wrote emails to the artist once the academy's art museum decided to stage the show.