GERMAN sculptor Alfred Kainz donated his "Four Chairs" to the Shenzhen Art Museum at a special ceremony Tuesday. The work, believed to be the first German sculpture in a museum in China, is said by Kainz to be valued at 100,000 euros (US$125,412).

The work is part of Kainz's one-man show also featuring more than 30 pictures of his recent sculptures. The show runs through Oct. 28.

Kainz's "Four Chairs" has stainless steel frames and dark granite seats. Each chair back is decorated with a bronze mold representing one of the four elements - earth, fire, water and air.

"I'm rather satisfied with this work because it embodies the harmonious relationship between human beings and nature as well as between nature, science and technology," Kainz said.

Kainz said he drew inspirations from a set of furniture, including a table and four chairs, which he was asked to make for a private collector in Germany in 1993.

Later, after several modifications, Kainz decided to put the four basic elements of the physical world into the chairs, creating works that were usable sculptures.

Born in 1960, Kaniz studied sculpture, architecture and design in Munich. Since 1989, he has worked as a freelance sculptor creating designs for gardens, furniture and interior decoration.

Kainz said the highest price for his works had reached 3 million euros in Germany.

According to the exhibition's planner, Wang Dalin, Kainz's sculpture is the second German artwork the Shenzhen Art Museum has collected. The other German artwork of the museum is an oil painting by artist Hugo Nefe.

Wang first saw 10 Kainz sculptures in the exhibition hall of the Mercedes-Benz company headquarters in Germany in 2001. Attracted by the artist's style, which Wang describes as "profound, rational, simple and sleek," he decided to introduce Kainz's sculpture to Shenzhen.

Venue: Shenzhen Art Museum (Inside East Lake Park)

Add: 32 Donghu Street 1, Aiguo Road, Luohu District

Time: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., through Oct. 28, closed Monday

Admission: Five yuan, free on Friday

Tel: 2542-6069, 2540-9307

Buses: 3, 17, 320, 360. Walk about 500 meters after going though the gate of East Lake Park.

Editor: Wing