ChinaVirtuoso

Zhiwei Tu painting

For seven hours straight, Tu watched the artist work, and afterwards, he bought his own paints and painted his own portrait of Mao. When he showed it to the village officials a few days later, they decided to display his piece as it was far more impressive than the commissioned piece. By 1975 he had earned a BA from the Guangzhou Institute of Fine Arts in Canton, and became a teacher of art at the Teaching College of Shiao Gaun, China. The Cultural Revolution in China forced the closing of all graduate programs until 1978, when the movement lost its energy. During the interruption of his studies, Tu traveled extensively throughout China studying Chinese history and culture, and producing hundreds of paintings. Later, these served as great sources of information and inspiration for much of his work.