Established in 1953, the Art Museum of China Central Academy of Fine Arts (Former CAFA Gallery) is located Dongcheng District with a rich collection of over 13,000 art works covering a wide variety of genres and styles from different period of time, China to western countries, including representative works of maestros, contemporary artists, as well as fine students since the foundation of the Academy.
The new art museum is situated in an arc field, with a shell-like exterior formed by the curtain wall and the curved roof, just like a boomerang. The three entrances are respectively incised like the wing tips and corners of the boomerang. The glass curtain at the entrances enhances the transparency of the architecture; meanwhile, meets the day lighting needs. The celadon slates covering the exterior wall of the museum assort with the color of the architecture’s grey bricks. The whole external structure is orderly, harmonious, and clearly demarcated. When it comes to the interior of the architecture, there is no column in the middle of the architecture. There is just a capacious exhibition hall, which adopts a sunroof formed by a plane section of the shell, satisfying the need for light with the natural light. The whole architecture has unique shape and reasonable layout.
The museum covers an area of 14,777m2, with four floors above ground, two underground and one underground in part. The total exhibition and display area is 4,150 m2, where second floor is for permanent gallery that showing ancient paintings, calligraphies and art works which were donated or collected by senior professors of CAFA, as well as works of registered professors of CAFA; the thematic exhibition gallery is on third and forth floor which were designed with open space and daylight curtain. The exhibition hall with 11-meter high ceiling on third floor is able to provide sufficient space for contemporary art exhibition. The collection warehouse of the museum is on Basement 2, covering an area of 1,120 m2. It adopts the latest information technology and digital management in the world, and has reached the international level in both software and hardware. Public service facilities are on Ground Floor. The lecture hall can accommodate 380 people, a convenient place for academic seminar, special lecture and press conference. Other facilities also include the reception desk, café and bookstore.