Exhibition marks a university's place in public art education

The academy of fine arts is one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of Nanjing Normal University. Throughout the years, it has cultivated many figures of importance, and its curriculum was taught by luminaries of modern Chinese art and education.

Devotion and Aesthetics, an exhibition which ends on Wednesday at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, celebrates the 120th anniversary of the university in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

It brings together iconic works by master artists who cultivated close bonds with the school's teachers and former students. The display of artworks, manuscripts, videos and other documents gives a review of the school's efforts in fine arts creation and how they have nurtured art education, as well as catering to emerging social needs, such as opening courses in industrial design.