Ye Du Tu (夜读图 Evening Reading) by Cao Liufu Painting

Cao Liufu, born in 1947, Tianjin, China. He's a member of China National Art Association, professor at Tianjin Academy of Arts and Crafts, visiting professor at Tianjin University and member of council of Tianjin CPPCC Calligraphy and Painting Research Association. He was a disciple of Huang Binhong and Duan Shi when he was still a child, and started his systematic study on ink painting and calligraphy during his university time at Tianjin Academy of Arts and Crafts. Later he began his professional career, first as a comic artist and later shifted to pure ink painting. Many of his comic books have become classic collections ever since, especially his series that have won a number of national awards. Meanwhile, Cao has been widely acclaimed for his ink painting works, particularly his painting of figures, which comes with 2 major themes: "the life style of ancient scholars/figures" and "the fun old time of childhood", both have performed very well at auction houses including Poly, Rongbao, Hanhai and Duo Yun Xuan as well as galleries. And only last year, he's just achieved a new breakthrough by selling one of his childhood themed work for 6 figures. Thanks to his comic work background, Cao's ink painting of figures often shows a side of "storytelling", which he achieves with fluent lines,innate blend of vintage-like background, soft colors, and mostly, his clever mind. There's really no better word to describe these works than the term"warm joy" - it feels like that he is always able to capture THAT VERY moment of warmth, that VERY magical encounter between his characters in this somewhat chaotic world, just as the artist once said himself, "art needs to provide more than just visual beauty, but a solution to life. what I'm hoping for is that when people look at these works, they can put on a smile on their face, give them a sense of kindness, warmth and tranquility no matter what they're experiencing in real life".