Xia Xing was born in Beijing in 1958. He began studying in the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, in 1984 and graduated in 1988. In 1991 he completed an advanced oil painting technique course with 
French realist painter Claude Ewell. His works have since been included in numerous exhibitions internationally and he had a solo exhibition in 1998 at the Schoeni Art Gallery, Hong Kong. Two books on Xia Xing’s paintings have been published and his work has been acquired by private and institutional collections worldwide, including the Ford Foundation in the United States. Xia Xing lives and works as a professional painter in Beijing.
February, 2001
Oil on Canvas
53" x 43" (134.6cm x 109.2cm)About this work
“February” comes from a series of paintings Xia Xing created around the theme of concubines living in the Forbidden City and preparing themselves to meet the emperors. In the series, there is a painting for each month of the year, showing a different concubine living in a different part of the palace, such as the North Gate, or East Gate. Of this series, Xia Xing has commented, “Throughout China’s history, there are many women I adore and many stories I cannot forget. I once wished that I could have a time machine so I could reverse time and meet these wonderful women and experience their stories. Instead, I paint them.”
