Cao Liwei was born in 1956 in Liaoning province, and he has always been interested in landscape painting. From 1978 to 1982, he was a student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, where he won first prize at his graduation exhibition. 
From 1981 to 1985, he traveled extensively throughout the Qinghai and Gansu Provinces and into Tibet. In 1985, he was awarded the silver medal at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts. His work has been shown in Canada, France, Japan and the United States. He currently resides in Southern California.
White House, Shadow of a Tree, 1985
Oil on Canvas
59" x 63" (149.9cm x 160cm)About this work
Cao Liwei has said that he came upon this minimalist scene while traveling on the Qinghai plateau and that the simple structure of the house and the shadow cast upon it by a single tree left an indelible impression in his mind of this lonely landscape. He says that the deep blue of the sky was accurate and not used to lend a surreal effect, as some critics have suggested. Cao Liwei says that sometimes light can create a surreal atmosphere given various elements within a particular landscape. He believes that in this painting, he merely reflected what he observed.
