Guan Liang (Chinese, 1900-1986), courtesy name Liang Gong, was born in Panyu, Guangdong. He went to Japan in 1917, studying oil painting at the Kawabata Institution and the Pacific Art Association. After returning to China, he taught at various institutions including the Shanghai Chinese Art College (now Nanjing University of the Arts), Shanghai Arts University, and Hangzhou National College of Art (now China Academy of Art). After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Guan took on the following rolls: trustee of the Chinese Artists Association, vice chairman of the Shanghai Artists Association, researcher at the Shanghai Research Institute of Culture and History, professional painter at Shanghai Chinese Painting Academy, professor at Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (now China Academy of Art), director and advisor of the art research office at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and committee member of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Guan Liang developed a signature style of his own that blends Chinese and Western techniques, interpreting the spirit of Chinese art with a modern touch.