Exhibition View

“Imported Oil Painting: A Retrospective Exhibition of the Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program at CAFA (1955-1957)” was unveiled at CAFA Art Museum on November 21, 2025. The exhibition showcases more than 240 works from the Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program, abundant literature and historical photographs, as well as hundreds of publications, which comprehensively review the teaching achievements of the Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program at CAFA.

2025 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program which ushered in a significant chapter of Chinese oil painting in the 20th century. To commemorate this milestone, the Central Academy of Fine Arts has organized this exhibition to review this historical period, which is both a tribute to the past and a practice of artistic inheritance. The exhibition goes beyond being just an art exhibition or a literature exhibition, as it provides the best review of that period of history, of the history of Chinese art education, and of the development of oil painting education.

Exhibition View

“The teaching philosophy promoted by Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program—‘emphasizing sketching from life, being oriented towards realistic life, and valuing both skills and cultivation’—has been deeply integrated into the academic tradition of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, continuously influencing the development of Chinese oil painting,” said Lin Mao, President of CAFA, at the opening ceremony.

Jin Shangyi, former President of CAFA and a representative of students from Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program, put forward a core question through this exhibition: after reviewing the historical development, we shall consider the very realistic and important question of how Chinese oil painting should develop in contemporary era. He inspired everyone to compare history with the present and jointly explore the path forward.

Wu Danna, Director of the Beijing Russian Cultural Center, praised Professor Maksimov’s historic contributions, pointing out that the art masters he trained did not only lay the foundation for China’s oil painting education system but his endeavor also built an enduring bridge for Sino-Russian artistic exchange. The Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program symbolizes the successful practice of Russian art education in China and it reflects the shared pursuit of beauty by China and Russia.

View of the Opening Ceremony

Jin Jun, Director of the CAFA Art Museum, presented a donation certificate to Yu Li, the son of the donor Yu Yunjie.

The Group Photo of Honored Guests

Exhibition View

The first section set within specially designed scenario, is featured by historical photos, documents, archival texts and other materials related to the theme on tracing the journey of Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program.

Exhibition View of the First Section

The second section at Gallery 3A showcases “Maksimov in China” and “Student Graduation Artworks and Sketches”.

Portrait of Konstantin Mefodovich Maksimov

Konstantin Mefodovich Maksimov (1913–1993) was born in 1913 into a peasant family in Shatrovo Village, Ivanovo Province, Soviet Union. In 1936, he entered the Oil Painting Department of the Moscow Institute of Printing and transferred the same year to the Moscow Institute of Fine Arts (later renamed the Surikov Art Institute). He graduated with distinction in 1943 and remained there as a faculty member. In 1950 and 1952, he received the State Stalin Prize, the highest honor in the Soviet Union for achievements in literature and the arts at the time.

In 1955, under the commission of the Soviet government and at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, Maksimov came to the Central Academy of Fine Arts to establish and lead an Oil Painting Training Program. The program trained a generation of Chinese oil painting teachers and artists, laying a vital foundation for the development of a realist oil painting education system in modern China.

Through Maksimov’s rigorous teaching and devoted guidance, the students gradually grasped the dialectical unity between drawing and color. Their understanding and representation of structural form, as well as the tonal warmth and coolness of color, improved significantly. In particular, their mastery of oil painting techniques and expressive language for handling realist themes marked a refreshing advancement compared with earlier forms of “native oil painting.” The enduring influence of their graduation works stemmed largely from their systematic study and refinement in accordance with the technical principles of oil painting.

Exhibition View of Gallery 3A

Another three chapters of “Indoor Sketching in the U-Shaped Building”, “Sketching in the Sunlight of Beijing's Suburbs” and “Graduation Trip Sketching” are displayed at Gallery 4 at CAFA Art Museum.

One of the key objectives of the Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program was the cultivation of fundamental skills. In this area, Maksimov possessed both systematic theoretical insight and extensive teaching experience. Inside the U-shaped teaching building at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, he offered patient and meticulous instruction, correcting students’ challenges in such aspects as overall tone, local and ambient color, light and shadow, contrasts of warm and cool hues, color and texture, as well as brushwork and expression. He emphasized that “the task of oil painting is to study and comprehend the color forms of various objects and to skillfully reproduce them through color.”

Starting in the summer of 1955, Maksimov frequently led all the students of the Oil Painting Training Program to the outskirts of Beijing—such as Hot Spring Village and the Shijingshan Iron and Steel Plant—for plein-air sketching sessions. Immersed in the natural outdoor environment, he encouraged his students to observe directly rather than conceptually, paying attention to how variations in sunlight intensity at different times of day affected the tonal atmosphere through contrasts of warm and cool colors. He emphasized that students should “not only perceive the struggle between warm and cool colors within simple color relationships (such as red and green visible to any normal eye), but also analyze the subtle chromatic changes found in nature.”

Exhibition View of Gallery 4

Through this process, the students came to understand and absorb the Western color system—developed gradually from the classical period to the 19th century—that emphasized the depiction of light-source color and ambient color and their harmonious interplay. Outdoor sketching thus became an essential means of independent practice beyond the classroom.

Upon the completion of the Oil Painting Training Program, Maksimov led several students on a graduation sketching trip. The group first traveled to Wuhan, then continued by boat to Sichuan, followed by visits to Mount Huashan in Shaanxi and Sanmenxia. The eight participating students were Feng Fasi, Wang Dewei, Lu Guoying, Yu Changgong, Wang Chengyi, Wu Dezu, Wei Chuanyi, and Ren Mengzhang. The journey concluded in Chongqing, the final destination of the summer of 1957. At Chongqing Airport, Maksimov bid farewell to his students before flying to Kunming and then connecting through Beijing for his return to the Soviet Union. The Maksimov Oil Painting Training Program thus came to a successful close with this memorable graduation sketching trip.

About the Exhibition

Executive Advisor: Xu Yang

Academic Director: Lin Mao

Coordination Directors: Wang Xiaolin, Lyu Pinjing, Wu Qiang, Pan Chenghui

Curators: Jin Jun, Cao Qinghui

Planning Director: Han Wenchao

Curatorial Director: Gao Gao, Hai Jun

Exhibition Execution: Li Yaochen, Wang Jing

Design Director: Ji Yujie

Documentation Support: Cong Tao

Exhibition Coordination: Liu Xiyan, Yi Yue

Collection Management: Xu Yan, Dou Tianwei, Wang Chunling, Ma Liang, Cui Ranran, Li Wei, Mei Qi, Jiang Nan

Design Associate: Min Zhiyi, He Yu, Chen Zhuo

Exhibition Management: Xiu Shicun, Jing Peng, Lyu Zhifa

Media: He Yisha, Wu Jing, He Yifei, Du Yinzhu, Ding Yi

Special Thanks: Chen Beixin, Jin Shangyi, Gu Ancun, Feng Shiguang, Gao Tianxiong, Cai Guo-Qiang, Chen He, Hou Shanhu, Lin Lin, Luo Qunyi, Ren Hui, Song Xianzhen, Tian Xiongdong, Wang Xueqing, Wei Xingtao, Wu Xiaochuan, Wu Yongfan, Xu Dihua, Yang Yi, Zhang Fan, Zhang Ying, Beijing Maoyuan Hongzhai Artwork Investment Co., Ltd., Chongqing Chinese Contemporary Art Museum, The Central Academy of Fine Arts Library.

Courtesy of CAFA Art Museum, edited by Publicity Department of CAFA.

Article Source：https://www.cafa.com.cn/en/news/details/8332868