The development of 20th century realistic oil painting in China

Abstract

This article analyses a new period in the methods of teaching the fine arts in China at the Central Academy of Fine Arts which, in the mid-twentieth century, began to intensify. Numerous representatives of artistic figures during this period came to China from the Soviet Union and the socialist countries of Eastern Europe. Soviet masters were invited to China to establish courses, creating conditions for the systematic development of realistic painting techniques. Particular attention is paid here to the Soviet artist K. Maksimov’s educational activities. With a particularly logical and effective method of teaching oil painting, he made a significant contribution to the development of Chinese artists’ systemic approach to realism. The consistent process of realism’s influence in Chinese art is also considered in the context of the educational activities of such significant artists of this school as Xu Beihong, Wu Zuoren and others. Analysis of K. M. Maksimov’s students’ works presented at the exhibition of graduates of his course, allows one to conclude that a the artist’s pedagogical activities had a special historical significance for China. The author of the article concludes that it was only the hard work and diligence of Maksimov’s students which enabled a quick response of the Academy of Arts to the necessity of educating a new type of Chinese artist which was, from beginning of the 1980s, to dictate reform and a policy of openness. Refs 5. Figs 9.