1947年7月23日出生于重庆，幼年在父亲影响下学画。

1964年，以专业第一名成绩，考入四川美术学院附中。
1968年，川美附中毕业，到大巴山农村生活10年。
1977年，恢复高考，成为第一届川美油画系学生。
1980年，创作《父亲》，带动中国乡土艺术、伤痕美术发展。
1984年，作为中国最早一批公派留学艺术家，留学比利时皇家美术学院。
1992年，创建罗中立油画奖学金，搭建中国奖掖当代艺术学子新平台。
1998年，担任四川美术学院院长，带动形成“以创作带教学”艺术教育人才培养新模式。
2009年，受聘担任中国艺术研究院中国当代艺术院院长，走上探索打破体制机制障碍，促进中国当代艺术发展新里程。

1981年，油画《父亲》获全国青年美展一等奖，人民日报金奖。作品被中国美术馆收藏，并入选国家教材，被认为是“当代美术史上的里程碑”。
1982年，“故乡组画”参加全国艺术院校创作会，被称为中国的“米勒”。
1986年，5件作品入选全国美协与在美国纽约举办的首届“中国当代油画展”。
1994年至今，相继在中、美、英、法、德、澳、比利时、台湾等地举办“罗中立个展”，作品被中国美术馆、上海美术馆、哈佛大学、俄克拉荷马州立美术馆、新加坡美术馆、比利时国家博物馆、中国台湾高雄山美术馆等权威机构收藏。
近年来，出版论著作与画册《中国乡土写实的灵魂》、《巴山夜雨》、《学苑问道》、《罗中立表现主义油画艺术》等十余部，发表作品120余幅。
最新个展《语言的轨迹》（2010），《罗中立：置换的描绘》（2011），《中国乡土写实灵魂》（2012），充分展示了作者在艺术领域内孜孜不倦的持续探索精神。

罗中立的艺术成就，可以归纳为：
 （1）打破桎梏，掀起了新中国历史上当代艺术的第一次浪潮。
 罗中立的《父亲》，打破特殊时代中整齐划一的艺术模式，以人文主义关怀，将艺术从政治的神坛还原到日常生活和人本身,并掀起和引领了新中国历史上当代艺术的第一次浪潮伤痕美术和乡土绘画的发展。
 （2）情系农桑，始终把关注的目光聚焦在中国最大的代表群体：农民。
 植根本土，情系农桑。在三十余年的艺术生涯中，坚持用画笔描绘农村，赞美农民，被称为当代的“米勒”。
 （3）中西融汇，探寻一种不同于西方前卫、也不同于中国传统艺术的艺术语言和表达方式。
 一方面经历了西方艺术史系统的洗礼，一方面植根中国本土艺术及民间文化丰饶土壤，在艺术语言的突破和探索中，逐渐形成自己独特的艺术语言和个性化的艺术风格。
 

Born in Chongqing in July 23, 1947, early in his father under the influence of painting.
In 1964, the first professional achievement, was admitted to the Sichuan Fine Art Institute high school.
In 1968, American high school graduate, 10 years of rural life to Daba mountain.
In 1977, the resumption of college entrance examination, become the first oil painting department of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute student.
1980, the creation of "father", driven Chinese native art, scar art development.
1984, as China's first batch of public sent to study artists, studying Royal Belgian Academy of Fine Arts.
In 1992, created to build a new platform for painting Luo Zhongli scholarship, Chinese by contemporary art students.
1998, as president of Sichuan Fine Art Institute, led the formation of "creative teaching" art education personnel training new model.
2009, employed as president of the Chinese Academy of contemporary art, Chinese Academy of Arts, embarked on exploration to break the barriers of institutional mechanisms to promote the development of contemporary Chinese art new mileage.
1981 oil painting "father" won the National Youth Art Exhibition Gold Award, the people's daily. Works by the Chinese Art Museum collection, and selected national textbooks, is considered to be a milestone in the history of contemporary art".
In 1982, the "hometown series" participated in the creation of the National Art College, known as the "Miller China".
In 1986, the first "5 works selected for the National Association and held in the United States of New York China contemporary oil painting exhibition".
Since 1994, one after another in the United States, Britain, France and Germany, Australia, Belgium, Taiwan and other places held a present exhibition, works by China Art Museum, Shanghai Art Museum, Harvard University, Oklahoma State Art Gallery, Singapore Art Museum, National Museum, Taiwan, Belgium Chinese Kaohsiung mountain Museum authority collection.
In recent years, with the publication of works on the album "Chinese soul", "local realism", "school" hope of reunion among friends asked, "Luo" expressionism oil painting art etc., published more than 120 pieces of works.
The latest exhibition "language track" (2010), "Luo Zhongli: the replacement" (2011), depicting "China local realistic spirit" (2012), demonstrating the author diligently in art exploration spirit.

Luo Zhongli's artistic achievement, can be summarized as follows:
(1) breaking the shackles, setting off the first wave of contemporary art in the history of new china.
Luo Zhongli "father", break the special era uniform art mode, humanistic care, art from the political altar reduction into the daily life and the people, and set off to lead a new development and China history of contemporary art in the first wave of scar art and local painting.
(2) the Nongsang, always put on behalf of the group to focus the attention of the largest in Chinese: farmers.
Rooted in the local situation, nongsang. In more than thirty years of art career, adhere to the brush depicting the countryside, praise farmers, known as the contemporary "Miller".
(3) to explore the integration of Chinese and western, which is different from the Western avant-garde, but also different from the traditional China art language and expression.
On the one hand through the western system of art history of baptism, a rooted soil native art and rich folk culture China, in the language of art breakthrough and exploration, gradually formed its own unique artistic language and personalized artistic style.