# Liu Haisu artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/liu-haisu/
Profile generated: 2026-05-09T19:02:35.986Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1896-03-06
- Death date: 1994-08-07
- Nationality: Chinese
- Movements: Chinese modern art
- Common media: Chinese ink painting, Oil painting

## About Liu Haisu

Liu Haisu (1896–1994) was a Chinese painter and art educator widely regarded as one of the founding figures of modern Chinese art. Active across nearly the entire twentieth century, he mastered both traditional Chinese ink painting and Western-style oil painting, bridging East Asian and European artistic traditions. Liu earned the honorary title of one of the 'Four Great Academy Presidents,' a recognition of his pioneering role in reforming art education in China. His career spanned decades of political and cultural transformation, and his work reflects sustained engagement with landscape, calligraphic expression, and color theory. Collectors encounter his paintings at major international auctions and in museum collections focused on modern Chinese art.

## Common works and media

Liu Haisu produced Chinese ink landscapes, bird-and-flower paintings, figure studies, and oil paintings, often of mountain or coastal scenery. Collectors may also encounter calligraphic works, sketches, and exhibition prints. His paintings range from intimate album leaves and fans to large-scale mounted scrolls and canvases. Works are typically signed in Chinese characters and may bear artist seals; some later works include dated inscriptions.

## Market and appraisal context

Liu Haisu's works appear regularly at major auction houses specializing in modern Chinese and Asian art. Valuation depends on several factors: whether a work is an oil painting or ink painting, its scale, provenance, condition, and date within his long career. Works with clear exhibition or publication history, especially those linked to his Academy period, tend to attract stronger market interest. Attribution should be verified by specialists, as his style evolved considerably over nearly a century of creative output. Specific price ranges are not cited here due to limited auction-record data in the current source pack.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from library authority files, museum records, and scholarly sources with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Liu Haisu's profile draws on the Library of Congress Name Authority File, Getty ULAN, VIAF, RKD, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n82109879
- RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/306032
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Haisu
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3256848
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500321565
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/36910170/