The exhibition cooperation between the three major German collective museum institutions in Berlin, Dresden and Munich and the National Museum of China in Beijing constitutes the remarkable highlight of the German-Chinese cultural exchange programme initiated in 2005. This programme serves to promote the mutual appreciation between the two countries and to further develop their cultural relations. A first agreement for the long-term presentation of works of art was officially sealed by contract on 25 May 2007 in the presence of the President of the People's Republic of China, Hu Jintao, and the former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. On 29 January 2009, the cooperation to host an exhibition on the Art of the Age of Enlightenment was concluded by contract in the presence of the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Angela Merkel, and the Chinese Premier of the People's Republic of China, Wen Jiabao, at the German Chancellery in Berlin.

　　Both the concept and organisation of the exhibition are the result of joint efforts on part of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden and the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen München in cooperation with the National Museum of China in Beijing. The team of curators formed by colleagues from all three museum institutions is being supported by renowned researchers from various specialist fields. The aim is to introduction on the highest academic level the Art of the Age of Enlightenment to non-European audiences.

　　For Berlin, Dresden and Munich, the “Art of the Age of Enlightenment” is the consequent continuation of their joint engagement with China, which commenced in 2005 with the photographic exhibition “Humanism in China” shown at various locations in Germany and which was carried forward in 2008 with the exhibitions “Living Landscapes: A Journey through German Art” and “Gerhard Richter” at the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC).

　　The exhibition is substantially funded by the German Foreign Office and takes place under the joint patronage of the President of the People's Republic of China, Hu Jintao, and the President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Christian Wulf.