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The Art of Jin Zhilin
Jin Zhilin featured in From the Masses to the Masses documentary
 Jin
Zhilin is an accomplished oil painter best known for reviving the role of traditional
Chinese folk art in modern China. He once served as director of research for
the Department of Folk Art at Beijing’s Central Academy
of Fine Arts.
Jin was born in 1928 in Luannan county, Hebei province. In 1944, he was accepted
into the Beijing Training School, where he studied Chinese landscape painting
under Mr. Wu Jingting. In 1947, he entered the Arts department of the Peking
National Arts College, where he studied western painting from masters such
as Feng Fasi, Wu Zuoren, Xu
Beihong; and traditional Chinese painting under
masters Li Keran and Qi Baishi. He graduated from the Central Academy of Fine
Arts in 1951,and began teaching in the academy’s Painting and Oil Painting
departments, as well as the Dong Xiwen Studio.
Jin pursued his decades-long interest in Chinese folk art after moving to
Yan’an, in northern Shan’xi province, in 1973. There, Jin worked
in the local mass arts office and the cultural relic administration office.
More importantly, he and his students were trained in traditional paper-cut
art by peasant women from the surrounding countryside. In 1980, Jin and his
team organized a major show of this art and published an accompanying book
honoring the folk artists of Yan’an.
In 1986, Jin returned to Beijing to take the post as Director of Research
at the new Department of Folk Art, at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He
still serves the Academy as a tutor for graduate students. He is also a member
of the Chinese Artists Association.
Professor Jin’s master oil paintings, including the monumental historic
painting Nan Niwan, the portrait Village Head, and landscapes such as Well
Sinker, were collected and shown in the 20th Century Chinese Art Exhibition,
the 20th Century China Oil Painting Exhibition, the 100 Years of Oil Portraiture
in China Exhibition, and 50 Years of Chinese Arts. The first oil exhibition
for Jin was held in 1961. Other solo oil shows include the Print of Life (held
in Beijing, 1995 and Paris, 2000).
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