China Academy of Art was founded in 1928. Cai Yuanpei, an educator and then dean of the college, founded the first comprehensive national art institute in China by the West Lake, which consists of four departments: Chinese painting, western painting, sculpture and design, and the preparation and research department.

Lin Fengmian, the first president of the National Academy of Art, advocated the mission of "introducing western art, sorting out China art, reconciling Chinese and western art and creating art of the times". China Academy of Art is the first comprehensive national art institution of higher learning in China, the earliest institution of higher learning to implement design in China, the birthplace of the earliest art revolutionary group in China, one of the earliest institutions of higher learning to carry out postgraduate education in China, the only national key discipline of fine arts in China, the first batch of national "double-first-class" world-class discipline construction universities, and the national social and artistic level rating institution.