Jin Shangyi

Jin Shangyi was born in December 1934 in Jiaozuo, Henan. He graduated from the Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1953 and continued as a postgraduate student. In 1955, he entered the oil painting training class taught by Soviet expert Maximov. In 1957, he successfully completed his postgraduate studies in oil painting with outstanding results and remained at the academy to teach drawing in the Printmaking Department. In 1962, he transferred to teach at the First Studio of the Oil Painting Department. In 1983, he became Vice President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and in 1987, he was appointed President. Starting in 1996, he concurrently served as Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. From 1998 onward, he served as Chairman of the China Artists Association—the fifth and sixth chairman respectively. Currently, he holds positions as an appraisal committee member for the State Council Academic Degrees Committee's arts panel, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Education's Art Education Committee, doctoral supervisor and professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Honorary Chairman of the China Artists Association, Vice Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to art creation and teaching, the State Council has awarded him the title of National-Level Expert, entitling him to special government allowances. He has presided over teaching work at the First Studio of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the Oil Painting Advanced Training Class; his artistic practice and concepts have influenced a large number of Chinese oil painters since the mid-1980s, inspiring a trend toward absorbing nourishment from classical traditions. Since 1980, as director and professor of the First Studio of the Oil Painting Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, he has cultivated many talents with his rich experience, while his numerous portrait works have generated extensive social impact, leading critics to regard him as a representative painter of contemporary Chinese oil painting. In the early 1980s, he was invited to lecture at the Department of Oriental Art, City University of New York, and visited and studied various art museums in the United States and Europe. In his works after the 1980s, he combined traditional Chinese aesthetic concepts with European classical oil painting techniques, forming a distinct personal style. Many of his works are collected by the National Art Museum of China. He has published multiple personal collections of paintings and once created artwork for philanthropist Zhang Jingyi, with whom he formed a close friendship across generations. His works such as "Tajik Bride," "Young Singer," "Qu Qiubai," "Portrait of a Doctor," "The Painter," and "Huang Binhong in His Later Years" have become representative pieces of contemporary Chinese oil painting and have been widely disseminated.