Lu Hongnian (1919-1989) was a native of Taicang, Jiangsu Province. He loved painting when he was young, and studied landscape with Li Zhichao in middle school. In 1932, he was admitted to the Fine Arts Department of the private Fu Jen Catholic University to study Chinese painting and mural painting. In 1936, he graduated from the Fu Jen University Department of Fine Arts and stayed on as an assistant teacher in the Department of Fine Arts, as well as an art teacher in Fu Jen Catholic High School. After 1949, he served as a lecturer and associate professor in the Chinese Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 1953, he was selected as Beijing Advanced Artistic Worker.

From 1957 to 1962, he led a team to visit Yongle Palace six times, and completed the task of copying more than 800 square meters of murals in the halls of Yongle Palace. In 1975, he completed the task of copying the murals of the North Qi Gaorun Tomb in Ci County, Hebei Province.