Okura Garden Hotel Shanghai

About

The French Club gained its fame due to its bold adoption of early French decoration approaches in the building interior. The staircase of the East Hall, in particular, vividly reflected the then popular artistic style, whose metal handrails are so elaborate as to impress any visitor instantly at first glance. The nude relief sculptures on 2F was once works of art the French Club felt much proud of, but in the years of revolutionary period, they narrowly missed a fate of total destruction due to their aesthetic tastes. Fortunately some people of insight covered up the sculptures with wood boards so as to keep them intact till today. In early 1985, when workers carefully removed the wood boards from the wall, these exquisite sculptures finally saw the light. The elegant posture of the bathing girls in the relief sculpture, plus white and plump skin were still clearly visible, looking true to life. This is the last batch of nude girl relief sculptures in Shanghai left by colonial culture.