-

Wang Xuetao was born in Cheng'an, Hebei province, in 1903, at the very of the Qing Dynasty. Growing up through the turbulent early decades of the 20th century, Wang studied painting at the Western Painting Department of the Beijing College of Art, and later transferred to the Department of Traditional Chinese Painting. Wang Xuetao also studied with the two masters Qi Baishi (1864–1957) and Wang Yun (1887–1934), providing invaluable tutoring and shaping his artistic practice. Whilst he maintained a long friendship with Qi, Wang Yun's emphasis on gathering visual memories arguably had a more profound impact on Wang Xuetao's art. His visual style, as demonstrated in the current lot, combines confidently-executed free brushstrokes with splashes of vibrant colours, the latter particularly visible in the layered pink and puce petals of the peony flowers.

In 1954, he served as the executive director of the Chinese Painting Research Association and was hired as an associate researcher of the National Art Institute of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 1955, he participated in the preparations for the Beijing Chinese Painting Academy. In 1957, he was appointed as the painter and member of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Academy. In 1978, he was appointed as the Dean of the Beijing Academy of Painting. His works can be found in major museum collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

-