Jointly organized by the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), the National Art Museum of China, and the High School Affiliated to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, “The 60th Anniversary Exhibition celebrating the High School Affiliated to the Central Academy of Fine Arts (1953-2013)”was inaugurated at the National Art Museum of China on the afternoon of March 29, 2014. The exhibition is a comprehensive retrospective of the 60 years of the teaching achievement of the school, where one can see a series of classic works by the school students along with the exploration and development of the teaching of the school. Tan Ping, Vice President of the CAFA, Zhao Yunan, an old pupil of the High School Affiliated to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, An Yuanyuan, Vice Director of the National Art Museum of China, Ma Gang, President of High School Affiliated to the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and the graduated pupils of the High School Affiliated to the Central Academy of Fine Arts attended the opening ceremony. The opening was presided over by four young students from the school, An YuanYuan, Tan Ping, Ma Gang, Zhao Yunan who all addressed the audience at the opening.

Advocated and directly cared for by the famous art educator Xu Beihong, and comrade Jiang Feng, the High School Affiliated to the Central Academy of Fine Arts was founded in 1953, led by Ding Jingwen, the first president of the school, is the first formal secondary school of art founded in new China, which has a special status and influence during the development of secondary art education in China and even Chinese modern art education. Over the past 60 years, generations of excellent students graduated from the school, and have gone on to be active in various fields such as art education, art creation, creation and the direction of television and film, drama art, press and publishing, fashion design, etc., for a long time they not only won an high reputation for the Alma mater, but also wrote and witnessed the glorious developing history of the school with their creations.

The exhibition collectively showcases the works of great influence created by students and teachers in the past 60 years, which is mainly made up of 4 parts: representative works created by students and teachers collected by the National Art Museum of China, worksby the teachers, excellent works by the students collected by the School and the history of the School, presenting unique styles and features, teaching ideas and achievements of the School during different periods of time.

Most of the “Representative Works Created by Students and Teachers Collected by the National Art Museum of China” have historical themes and are the art reproductions of the brilliant and difficult developing history of new China. They are the representative works of the development of new Chinese art, and now are also the most important collections of the National Art Museum of China, such as “In Front of Tiananmen” by Sun Zixi, “People and the Prime Minister” by Zhou Sicong, etc. On the occasion of celebrating the 60th anniversary of the school, it also looks back and pays tribute to the journey of construction of new China.

Creators of “Works by the Teachers” are not only teachers working in the front line of art education, but also art creators. Generations of teachers inherit the excellent tradition, including the older generations such as Zhao Yunan, as well as present young teachers. Their works showcase the importance of creativity in art education, and express their vigorous enthusiasm for art creation.

“Excellent Works of the Students Collected by the School” showcases the excellent works by the students during the previous years, the creative time spans from 1956 to 2014, a total of 60 years, witnessing the students diligent and constant strive towards improving the study and creation over the 60 years, applying their young minds to leave valuable information over the evolution of time. It is important that through these works people can see different features in different stages of teaching, which presents a complete context of teaching development of the school.

“History of the School” section through combining images, real objects, files, videos and brief texts, collectively showcases the features of the four periods including Xiaowei Hutong, Longfu Temple, Huajiadi and Yanjiao, so that the audience can feel the development of the school over the last 60 years.

The exhibition will continue until April 8.

Text by Zhang Wenzhi, Photo by Hu Zhiheng, translated by Chen Peihua and edited by Sue/CAFA ART INFO.