Liu Xiaodong Sold at Auction Prices

(b Jincheng, Liaoning Province, China, 1963) Chinese Painter. Liu Xiaodong attended the state run Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and had his first solo show in 1990. This was a definitive success and established his distinctive aesthetic often referred to as “neorealism” or “cynical-realism”. He depicts figures frankly and naturally in the actions of daily life, with loose brushwork and bold colors. This was a departure from his peers at the academy who tended to work in a more surrealist style. His work is clearly influenced by that of Lucian Freud, who also paints unromanticized figures with rich brushstrokes. In 1993, Liu made his first trip to the United States, which he cites as providing valuable perspective on both American and Chinese culture. In 1994, he returned to the Central Academy as a faculty member. Recently his work has taken on a more political tone as Liu attempts to bring attention to issues in contemporary China. For example, in 2003 he began a series of paintings depicting those people displaced by China’s Three Gorges Dam project.