The China Academy of Art (CAA; 中国美术学院) is a provincial public college of fine arts in Hangzhou. Zhejiang, China. It is affiliated with the Province of Zhejiang. The academy is part of the Double First-Class Construction.
The China Academy of Art was founded in 1928 and was called the National Academy of Art; in 1929, it was renamed the National Hangzhou Art College; in 1938, it was renamed the National Art College. In 1950, it became the East China Branch of the Central Academy of Fine Arts; in 1958, it was renamed Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts; in 1993, it was renamed China Academy of Art. Before 2000, it was under the management of the Ministry of Culture. In 2000, it became a university jointly built by the province and the ministry. In 2016, it was approved to become a university jointly funded by the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture.[1]
China Academy of Art is the most influential academy of fine arts with the most complete range of degree offerings and programs of study in China. It houses a diverse pool of artistic talent, has a distinctive structure integrating theory and practice, focuses on human care and social needs, and combines modern technical and cultural disciplines with traditional artistic ones. The academy features the study of theories and offers Ph.D., Master's, and bachelor's degrees of fine arts, design, architecture, film, and new media, which constitute the humanities and reflect the Chinese national spirit and creative theories of the era.
Front entrance of Nanshan Campus of China Academy of Art
There are 9,774 undergraduate and graduate students on four campuses with a faculty and staff of 888. The administration is headquartered on the Nanshan Campus, by the West Lake in Hangzhou. Some of the students in the Master's programs live on the alternate campus 40 minutes away, on the outskirts of Hangzhou. A free bus is offered to transport students to and from the campus and the dorms at designated times.
Undergraduate students typically spend one year in general education courses in the School of Foundation Studies and then three years in the core courses of their chosen majors. Graduate courses are typically three years long and include experience in the studio and research with mentoring faculty.
In 1928, the National Academy of Art (國立藝術院) was founded in China on the bank of the West LakeinHangzhou by the educators Cai Yuanpei and Lin Fengmian. It was administered by Yi Tingbai and Zhuang Ziman during the 1940s. Over the decades, the locations of the academy had changed ten times and its name, five times, as follows:
1928 - National Academy of Art (國立藝術院)
National Academy of Art was the first Chinese art university and graduate school
1929 - Hangzhou National College of Art (國立杭州藝術專科學校)
The Western painting department was divided into several studios. Most of them practiced modern, semiabstract styles. The atmosphere was very similar to that of an American art college in its freedom of expression. After the second year of their five-year program, students would choose a studio where they would like to continue their studies. Lin Fengmian advocated the synthesis of Chinese and modern Western art, and urged students not to emulate his work but develop their own styles. Among the other professors, Wu Dayu taught late impressionist and cubist styles; Fang Ganmin was influenced by Cubism; and Guan Liang taught a style derived from Fauvism. Although the students were strictly trained in academic drawing, they were encouraged to express themselves freely and be creative.[2]
1938 - National College of Art (國立藝術專科學校)
The Sino-Japanese War broke out, the National Beiping School of Art merged into the National Hangzhou School of Art, and a new national school was formed.
1945 - After Japan surrendered in 1945, the Academy was reopened in Hangzhou with the Chinese painter Pan Tianshou as its director.
The establishment of the People's Republic of China saw a shift in the government's attitude to, and policy on, art and art education. Many of the senior faculty members of the then National Academy of Art, particularly those practiced modern Western art, failed to understand or refused to accept the revolutionary ideologies and principles. Many, including Lin Fengmian, Fang Ganmin, Wu Dayu, and Guan Liang, gradually went back to Shanghai. Others, including the traditionalist Pan Tianshou, were reassigned to minor administrative positions, and were no longer allowed to teach. They were soon replaced by fresh graduates who had successfully mastered the revolutionary styles and principles.[3]
1950 - East-China Campus of Central Academy of Fine Arts (中央美術學院華東分院)
After the Civil War, the CPC (中國共產黨) took over mainland China and founded a new art academy, CAFA, in Beijing to solidify Beijing's status as the new capital. As a national academy founded by the KMT (中國國民黨) government, CAA was ordered to change its name to East China Campus of CAFA. CAA then changed its name, but did not merge with CAFA; the two academies remained independent and were not subordinate to one another.
There were also a couple of similar cases, The Shanghai Conservatory of Music (上海音樂學院), whose original name was The National Conservatory of Music (國立音樂院), and The Shanghai Theater Academy (上海戲劇學院), were ordered to change their names to East China Campus of central academies.
1958 - Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (浙江美術學院)
1978 - The Academy recruited high school graduates again.
1993 - China Academy of Art (中國美術學院)
China National Academy of Fine Arts, called China Academy of Art for short, on November 16, with the endorsement of the Ministry of Culture, PRC. Finally, CAA rehabilitated its national appellation.
Zhangjiang Campus, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, Pudong New District, Shanghai
Xiangshan Central Campus, Zhuantang Sub-district, Xihu (West Lake) District, Hangzhou (its south part was moved to its current location in 2007 from Xihuan Road, Binjiang District.)
Liangzhu Campus, Guduan Road, Westlake District, Hangzhou
