The art of oil painting was introduced by missionaries to the chinese court during emperor Qianlong’s era in the middle of the 18th century. The most famous was the jesuit priest giuseppecastiglione(1688-1766),knownbyhis chinesename of lang shining.

However, the art was not widely accepted until well into the 20th century when young chinese started going abroad to study. Within the space of just 50 years, it had become the most prestigious among contemporary art forms, a status it enjoys to this day.

Oilpaintingbecamepopularinthe1920swhenanelitegroup