CHANGSHA, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition showcasing the works of Chen Xichuan, a 90-year-old Chinese art teacher, and 227 of his students is ongoing in the Li Zijian Art Museum in Changsha, Hunan Province.

A total of 679 selective pieces are on display at the exhibition, including 28 drawings by Master Chen Xichuan. The exhibits cover a great variety of genres ranging from Chinese traditional ink-and-wash painting, oil painting, printmaking and sculpture, to audiovisual art, industrial and architectural design as well as installation art.

The exhibition aims to showcase China's artistic development over the past 40 years, and pay tribute to Chen Xichuan, the art teacher who has been "working on the front line of art education," said Li Zijian, U.S.-based Chinese painter and organizer of the exhibition. Li, also one of Master Chen's students, has won fame for his oil painting "The Nanjing Massacre."

Chen Xichuan began his artistic career at the Luxun Academy of Fine Arts and the Central Academy of Fine Arts in the 1950s, where he pursued studies under the guidance of master painters at the time, such as Wu Zuoren and Ai Zhongxin.

Upon graduation, Chen taught at Inner Mongolia Normal University, where he is regarded as a pioneer and leading promoter of Inner Mongolia's art education. He later returned to his hometown in Shaoyang, Hunan, to work as an art tutor.

Chen is said to have taught more than 10,000 students in his teaching career, of whom more than 3,000 were admitted to prestigious art academies in the country and worldwide.

"Although I am not rich, I feel like the wealthiest man in the world. My greatest treasure is my students," said the nonagenarian at the opening ceremony of the exhibition on Dec. 1. "It is to my great joy that many village boys and girls who used to work in the farm fields or on the back of water buffalos have now become college professors, painters, designers, entrepreneurs... I feel immensely gratified and proud when I think of them."

The exhibition, titled "Master Xichuan and His Students," will last until Jan. 6, 2019.