Painter of Russian scenery Liu Xiao

Russian painting carries a special place in the hearts of Chinese artists of a certain age. In fact mention Russia to any Chinese painter who's over fifty and you are likely to encounter an enthusiastic response.

From the 1940s through to the 1970s and 80s, the Russian brand of socialist-realism was almost universally followed by Chinese painters. Born in the 50s, Liu Xiao was, like many of his predecessors, converted to the style at the start of his career, and has remained true to it ever since.

In Liu Xiao' eyes, St Petersburg the old Russian imperial capital is like a never-ending canvass. Every detail is minutely recorded, not just in his mind's eye.

Fleeting moments that were just too beautiful to be allowed to slip away, the painter sought to capture first on film, before bringing them back to life on his own canvasses.

Like those masters who he has studied, Liu's painting is often filled with a sense of nostalgia and loss, even in his depiction of a cloudless autumn day. It is a neglected beauty that's drawn, not by imitation, but from a heart-felt attachment to the land. That attachment was cultivated long before Liu set foot in Russia.

Liu said, "I feel a special bond for the Russian landscape. I spent my youth during the Cultural Revolution. My family was affected by the movement. I remember being taken to the local library by my brother. There I found lots of Russian novels and art books - they were basically all there was at that time. And in my little heart, the seed was sown."

And once the seed was sown, it kept growing. Today, Liu still treasures the art prints he used to cut out from newspapers and magazines.

The painter's chance to see the real thing came in 2000, when he enrolled on a three-year course at the Repin Institute of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg. There, in the country's cultural capital, Liu was happy to immerse himself in the sea of museums and art galleries, until one day he was singled out by his teacher, renowned Russian painter Andrei Mylnikov.