About Ai Xuan
Contemporary oil painter Ai Xuan (b.1947) is the leading representative of Chinese Realism. Ai is renowned for his finely-rendered paintings that meditate upon the people and landscapes of Tibet, whom he has faithfully portrayed for over four decades. Ai’s devotion to this subject dates to 1973, when Ai joined the army and was posted to Chengdu to record the daily life of the Red Army troops stationed there. He was transformed by his discovery of the vast Tibetan Plateau: its majestic skyline, its harsh landscape and howling winds, and the beauty and bleakness of the life endured by its remarkable inhabitants.