The Bolt, Jean Honore Fragonard, Louvre, 73cm × 93cm, around 1777.

Renoir, Picasso, Caravaggio, Rodin and Repin — these are some of the masters who will be on the National Museum of China's calendar in the following months, starting with a special exhibition on April 11 to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-French diplomatic relations.

The exhibition will display 10 paintings from five French museums, the hallmarks of French art history, including Hyacinthe Rigaud's most famous work, Louis XIV, from the Palace of Versailles; Pierre-Auguste Renoir's Dance at Le Moulin de la Galette from the Musee d’Orsay; and Pablo Picasso's Matador from the Musee Picasso Paris.

Also in April, an exhibition titled Rome and Baroque will introduce how Rome became an art center in Italy in the 17th century, with a display of works of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio and his successors.

In the second half of the year, the exhibition halls will be filled with 140 sculptures and some rarely seen paintings of Auguste Rodin, as well as 52 works of representative artists from the Society for Traveling Art Exhibitions.