Zhang Xudong is a renowned alumnus of the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts (LUAFA). In 1986, he was admitted to the Department of Art Education at LUAFA. In the late 1980s, a generation of LUAFA students from the 1977 and 1978 classes—represented by Wei Ershen, Liu Renjie, Wang Yan, Hu Jiancheng, and Gong Lilong—emerged in China's oil painting scene after the Cultural Revolution. They won numerous major awards at the Seventh National Art Exhibition, garnering widespread attention and forming the so-called "LUAFA Phenomenon." Against this backdrop, Zhang Xudong eagerly absorbed artistic nourishment and laid a solid foundation in basic skills. More direct influences came from the young backbone teachers of the Art Education Department at that time, such as Zhang Yingchao's structural sketching, Wang Xiao'en's color aesthetics, Guan Jie's creative techniques, and Huang Yaqi's concepts of composition. Although the department's academic system was only two years, this short period enlightened Zhang Xudong's understanding and perception of art. Driven by the feeling of "not having painted enough," Zhang Xudong entered the Fourth Studio of the Oil Painting Department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in 1993 to further his studies under Professor Ge Pengren. Established during the '85 Art Movement, the Fourth Studio focused on Western modernist art, emerging as a dynamic group within the academy's teaching system. It cultivated many outstanding artists, including Meng Luding, Wang Yuping, Shen Ling, Xia Junnan, and Sun Yuan. During his further studies, Zhang Xudong encountered art forms like Abstract Expressionism and Neo-Expressionism, deeply impressed by Willem de Kooning's crisscrossed brushstrokes and Georg Baselitz's unrestrained colors. This experience triggered a significant shift in his style, leading him to embrace expressionism. In 1995, at the age of 29, he held his first solo exhibition featuring expressionist styles at the National Art Museum of China, making a notable impact on the oil painting circle.

Appreciation of Selected Works by the Artist