Liu Haisu was something of a child prodigy, entering painting school in Shanghai at age 14 under the guidance of Zhou Xiang. When he was 17, he opened the first school of fine arts in modern China along with Wu Shiguang, creating something of a scandal as his school was co-educational and pioneered the use of human body models. This earned him the appellation of "artist traitor". He visited Europe twice and corresponded with Picasso and Matisse and was influenced by them and their artistic theories. He passed away in August, 1994.