Born in Beijing in 1944, Cui Ruzhuo studied Chinese traditional calligraphy and ancient painting from a young age. He learned painting from Li Kuchan (1899-1983), Qin Zhongwen (1896-1974), Hu Peiheng (1892-1965), Wang Zhujiu (1900-1966) and Li Keran (1907-1989), all great masters of Chinese art.
Cui developed his skills teaching in China's Central Institute of Arts and Crafts, and then he moved to the United States in 1981. As the Honorary President of the Association of International Chinese Calligraphy and the Chairman of Painting Collectors Association, he has now moved back to China and once more lives in Beijing.
Life in the US was not always garlanded with success. Thirty seven-year-old Cui started his new life in a completely strange place with only US$800 to his name. Lodged in a dirty and dusty basement in New York; he lived on nothing but bread from week to week and worked an eight hour day as a humble waiter in a small Chinese restaurant, but he never gave up his dream - promoting the ancient Chinese arts of calligraphy and traditional painting across the world.
For his first year in New York his main concern was survival. The price of his paintings was around US$100, and no one wanted to buy them. Through his own determined efforts and the help of sincere friends, his career began to blossom.
Two years later, his paintings had won the favor of a wide interest group such as former US President Ronald Reagan, former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Soong May-ling, or the Madame Chiang Kai-shek, and the price of his work could reach as high as US$100,000.
"The meaning of life is to give, not to take. We Chinese have an old saying that translates roughly as follows: people should bear in mind where their happiness comes from, and return the hospitality that they have received. I want to help others, because many friends helped me."
During the China Guardian 2008 Spring Auction in April, an unidentified Asian private collector brought Cui Ruzhuo's "Snowy Mountains" for the price of US$2.35 million, three times the top-end estimate of British auctioneers Christie's.
