(CFP)

Jin Shangyi, one of the representatives of China's contemporary oil painting artists, was chosen among the first group of 16 academicians of the Academy of Traditional Chinese Paintings (ATCP).

Selecting its first group of academicians in the areas of culture, art and social sciences was a courageous experiment to enhance the international influence of the art of China's painting, said ATCP President Yang Xiaoyang.

Jin, 77, graduated from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) as a post graduate majoring oil painting in 1957 and began teaching in CAFA's oil painting department in 1962. He became CAFA's vice president in 1983 and president in 1987. He is now honorary president of the Chinese Artists Association and a CAFA professor.

As one of China's first generation of oil painters, Jin is known for his works of revolutionary and history subjects. His artistic ideas and practice have influenced a large number of the country's oil painters and brought about changes in the oil painting industry in China since the 1980s.

Jin's masterpieces, including The Bride of Tajik and Qu Qiubai, are now collected by many national-level domestic and foreign museums and institutions.