Liu Zhongdong
(1939–)
(–1992)
Liu Zhongdong
1939–1992
Liu Zhongdong (1939-1992) was a Chinese painter who mainly produced finger paintings, as well as traditional Chinese brush paintings, industrial artworks, and calligraphy. China Pictorial Publishing Co. published An Album of Liu Zhongdong’s Paintings in 1990 when Zhongdong was 51 years old.
Finger painting is a method of painting that uses fingers instead of a brush to spread ink across a surface. Fingernails are used to produce hard lined details, while fingers create softer rounded lines. This method was popularized by painter Gao Qipei in the late 17th century and then spread throughout China and Japan.
Born into a poor family in Guangdong Province, Zhongdong spent his youth on the coast reading and painting. He later attended Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts where he studied traditional Chinese painting under Guan Shanyue and Li Xiongcai. Taking up stylistic elements from each of his mentors, Zhongdong’s paintings feature elements of both the southern and northern painting schools of China and elements of Western painting techniques that are visible through his treatment of light and colour.
Zhongdong’s paintings have been exhibited internationally. He traveled to lecture and exhibit his works in Australia, Amsterdam, Canada, and the United States. His paintings are also held in museum collections such as the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam.