Yingzhao Liu is one of China's best-known realist painters. Working in a style that is most accurately described as "Magic Realism," Liu reaches for a sense of heightened reality in each painting. He paints still lifes of classical Chinese antiquities, which are depicted against decorative backgrounds, and imaginative figurative works that usually feature fruit that you can almost taste.

Liu was born in Heilongjiang province in 1956. He received a Bachelors of Fine Art in Oil Painting at Harbin Normal University and his Masters of Fine Art at Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, China's largest art academy. Liu became a Lecturer at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in 1992 before becoming a Professor of Art at the Tianjin University of Science and Technology. Liu's works have been exhibited across China as well as in Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Macao, Indonesia, the UK and the United States.