Gao Zhigang

        Renowned Painter and Calligrapher           Currently: National First-Class Artist, Member of the Shanxi Provincial Artists Association, Secretary-General of the People's Artistic Artists Association, Director of the China Professional Painters and Calligraphers Association, Member of the Linfen City Artists Association, Member of the Linfen City Calligraphers Association, Director of the China Zhenming Academy of Painting and Calligraphy.           Gao Zhigang was born in Quwo County, Shanxi Province in 1969; in 1986 he was admitted to the Art Department of Shanxi Linfen Cultural Arts School, studying under Lu Shisuo; in 1990 he graduated from the Oil Painting Department of Yuncheng College, studying under Liu Xuesheng and Zhao Jie.           Since 1991, he has been working with the Linfen City Urban Appearance Brigade, creating a large number of cartoons on urban management topics, which have been widely reported on websites such as People's Daily Online, Baidu, NetEase, Sohu, Sina, Huanghe News Network, Linfen 365, and Hope Care Culture Network, as well as in Shanxi Daily, Sanjin Metropolitan Daily, Linfen Daily, and Linfen Television, causing a sensation.           His works have been exhibited and awarded in numerous national painting and calligraphy exhibitions. Recently, his works were included in the commemorative stamp album jointly issued by China Post, China Post & Philately, and China International Philately Network titled "Commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan—Chinese Contemporary Painting and Calligraphy Master Gao Zhigang." He was also selected for the national发行 stamp album "Ten Great Painting and Calligraphy Masters on Chinese Stamps" issued by China Post.           Over the past thirty years of artistic creation, he has conducted in-depth studies in oil painting and calligraphy. Raised in the countryside, he has developed a deep affection for the simple folk customs of the Loess Plateau, creating a large body of pastoral oil paintings such as "Late Autumn" and "Nurturing," accumulating profound emotional ties to this loess land. Beginning in 1991, he studied under Shi Gangjian, a calligrapher and seal carver from Shandong, systematically researching ancient Chinese scripts including bronze inscriptions, oracle bone script, and Houma Alliance Texts, and producing a large number of large-seal calligraphy works.           His works have received high praise from the art and collecting communities; his oil paintings and large-seal bronze-inscription calligraphy have been collected by numerous art museums, celebrities, and foreign friends.