S H I H U ｜ 石 虎

Shi Hu (1942-2023) was a trailblazing modern Chinese painter whose fiercely individual style fused the expressive power of traditional ink with the dynamism of Western Modernism. Born in Xushui, Hebei, he initially trained at the Beijing Arts and Crafts School (1958) and later at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts (1960).After compulsory military service (1962), Shi spent the late Cultural-Revolution years carving ivory and restoring lacquerware—hands-on disciplines that later informed the sculptural energy of his brushwork. In 1977, he became art director at the People’s Fine Arts Publishing House, and the following year, a sketching tour through 13 African nations ignited his trademark palette of saturated reds, cobalt blue, and obsidian blacks, later published as African Sketches (1979).