A Master Painter of Gold Fish

91-year-old Ling Xu is best known for his paintings of gold fish. Born August in 1919 into a family of poverty in Huzhou， in northern Zhejiang Province， Ling Xu grew up in poverty and disasters. His father died when he was 8; his home was struck down with a fire when he was 13. Ling Xu had a passion for drawing and learned to paint on his own. At 19， he came out with an excellent score in entrance exams and enrolled himself at an art school in Shanghai. Two years later he graduated as a top student again due to his talent and due to his extremely hard work. At 21 he held a solo show of his paintings in Shanghai and received rave reviews.

By the early 1940s， he has already established himself as a well known traditional painter in Shanghai. One of his best paintings portrayed an ancient story which blasted the puppet regime working for the Japanese invaders.

Ling Xu is the first Chinese artist who painted panda as a main subject for his artistic creations. For years he painted panda. His panda paintings were so good that he was nicknamed Panda Ling in the south. He gave up the subject later because of his deteriorated eyesight.

In 1955 Chinese premier Zhou Enlai headed a Chinese delegation and attended the Asian-African Conference in Indonesia. The Chinese premier presented gold fish as gifts to his counterparts at the important meeting， saying that gold fish from China stood for peace， friendship， unity. Ling Xu was greatly inspired by the premier’s remarks about gold fish. The 46-year-old artist began to learn swimming and diving as the first step of mastering the art of gold fish painting.

His gold fish painting is really great. Gold fish under his brushstrokes can look different. In light brushstrokes， a gold fish gleams whereas in heavy brushstrokes， a gold fish looks as if it is alive. Many great artists have praised his gold fish.

Ling Xu lives in Suzhou. Over decades， the artist has taken part in charities activities in Suzhou and donated the proceeds of his paintings to the people in cash difficulties.

His gold fish paintings have been displayed on national fine arts exhibitions and on overseas exhibitions. His paintings also went into collections of many famed world leaders and UN Children’s Fund. He has won dozens of top honors and awards for his outstanding artistic achievements.□