Mao Zhiyong

    Mao Zhiyong's figure paintings are vivid and delicate, covering a wide range of subjects appreciated by both refined and popular tastes, making them highly favored among art collectors. Naturally gifted, he excels not only in traditional Chinese figure painting but also in landscapes and bird-and-flower paintings. Additionally, he has achieved remarkable success in various other artistic fields such as illustration, comic strips, sculpture, cloisonné painting, and hand-painted ceramics. He is particularly renowned for his "Cuju" series inspired by Qi culture, which has received widespread acclaim and admiration from art enthusiasts.

Mao Zhiyong has made persistent and active efforts to promote and spread Qi culture. As early as 2007, he created the culturally significant ancient children's painting "Cuju Figure," which attracted extensive attention and caused a sensation during an award ceremony held at the Great Hall of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Since then, he has continuously explored and innovated new forms of expression in his Cuju-themed artworks, producing a large number of related pieces. In 2015, he was invited to participate in the 12th Qi Cultural Festival, where he held a solo exhibition dedicated to his Cuju-themed works, promoting the culture of Cuju and receiving widespread praise, along with high recognition and support from local government authorities.

Mao Zhiyong’s traditional Chinese paintings have been collected by prominent political and business figures including Mr. Martin Gordon, former president of Swiss Bank Corporation and chairman of the British Martin Foundation; Peggy Dulany Rockefeller, chairwoman of the Global Philanthropists Circle and head of the American Rockefeller family; Elliott Donnelley, chairman of the Western Philanthropy Forum and president of白沙Investment Group; and Chen Guangbiao, China’s foremost philanthropist.

1. Illustrations and Comic Strips:

He has created illustrations and comic strips for numerous well-known national magazines. Representative works include color illustrated editions of the Four Great Classical Novels of ancient China. His comic strip creations include stories from "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," the series "Phoenix City" published by Shanxi People's Publishing House, and "Awakening Zen" published by China Literary Arts Press.

In 2012, he created the series "Youth Legal Education Comic Strip," which was selected in 2013 as one of the top ten favorite books among young readers nationwide.

In 2015, he was invited to create the commemorative anti-Japanese war seventieth anniversary comic strip "Battle of Huangtuling," jointly published and distributed by the Central Party School and Shanxi People's Publishing House.

2. Sculpture

In 2015, he designed and created an 80-square-meter large-scale relief work titled "Hard Struggle, Pioneering the Future" for the Command Center Building of Luning Prison in Shandong Province.

3. Traditional Chinese Painting

In 2008, his works "Liu Shaoqi" and "Statue of Liu Shaoqi Sitting" were selected for the "National Calligraphy and Painting Exhibition Celebrating the 110th Anniversary of Liu Shaoqi's Birth" held at the Beijing Military Museum, winning awards and later collected by Liu Aiqin, daughter of Liu Shaoqi.

In 2013, he created a series of works promoting Confucian culture such as "Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Wisdom, and Trustworthiness." These works were exhibited in dozens of schools in Guangdong and were copied by well-known local artists onto campus walls as part of traditional cultural education branding, generating strong positive responses.

In 2015, he created nearly a hundred "Cuju Figures" featuring distinct Chinese Cuju cultural characteristics. During the 12th Qi Cultural Festival, he was invited to hold a special exhibition of his Cuju-themed artworks at the Football Museum.

He participated in the 2015 "Charity • Hope Project Dream Fulfillment Action" co-hosted by the Young Artists Association and the Zibo Municipal Youth League Committee, donating fine figure paintings for a charity art exhibition to sponsor underprivileged students.

He was invited to participate in the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the passing of Master Hongyi. His artwork "Master Hongyi" was permanently collected by the Buddhist General Association of the Philippines, which issued a certificate, and the piece was included in the Master Hongyi Commemorative Album.

In 2016, he undertook the creation of two historical figures for Shandong Province's "Qilu Ode • 'Three Hundreds' Artistic Creation Project." His works "Wang Shizhen" and "Ma Lixun, the Explosives Hero" were exhibited in the "First Qilu Painting School Works Exhibition — Report Exhibition on the Creation of One Hundred Historical and Cultural Figures of Shandong."

In 2016, he created fifty traditional Chinese paintings themed around Qi culture, hosting the "Mao Zhiyong Qi Culture Fine Art Exhibition" at the China Artists Association Qilu Art Gallery. This series respects the authenticity of Qi culture while achieving artistic excellence in Chinese painting, representing a model and historic breakthrough in Qi cultural artistic creation. The exhibition drew significant attention and was praised by Xuan Zhaoqi, a nationally renowned expert and professor in Qi culture research, as the most comprehensive representation of Qi culture works by any single artist.