Born in 1944 in Beijing, Wang Huaiqing studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Crafts (1964), and at the Graduate School of Central Academy of Fine Arts and Crafts (1979), where he studied under Wu Guan-zhong, one of the forerunners of modern Chinese painting. Wang later co-founded the Contemporaries with his classmates, an avant-garde art group active in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Wang visited Shaoxing, Zhejiang in 1985, where he was profoundly moved by the water towns, their cultural heritage, and idyllic atmosphere, especially the structure of ancient architecture and the texture of antique furniture. This gave birth to his creative shift towards the minimal palette of black and white, as well as an abstract expression of three-dimensionality. This shift marks a milestone in his artistic practice, where he began shaping a different visual language that would redefine his work in the years to come.
Notable exhibitions include: Wang Huaiqing: The Art of Play, Tina Keng Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan (2024); Wang Huaiqing: 50 Years of Painting, Asia University Museum of Modern Art, Taichung, Taiwan (2024); Vertical, Horizontal, Tsinghua University Art Museum, Beijing, China (2021); Risonanza Cinese (Résonance chinoise): International Traveling Exhibition of Chinese Oil Painting, Palais Brongniart, Paris, France; Complesso del Vittoriano - Ala Brasini, Rome, Italy (2016); China: No es como la pintan: Masterpieces of the National Museum of Art of China, Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso, Mexico City, Mexico (2016); Art Basel Hong Kong (2015–2019); Out of the Mountains — Wang Huaiqing Solo Exhibition, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Kobe, Japan (2015); One to All: The Art of Wang Huaiqing, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan (2012); Wang Huaiqing: A Painter’s Painter in Contemporary China, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA, U.S. (2010); To the Forgotten Garden: Exhibition of Wang Huai Qing, Suzhou Museum, Suzhou, China (2010); Exhibition of Wang Huaiqing’s Paintings, National Museum of History, Taipei, Taiwan (2008); Traces of Nature — Art of Wang Huaiqing, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou (2008) and Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China (2007); Art Basel, Basel, Switzerland (2002, 2006, 2007); Asian Art Fair, the Armory, New York, NY, U.S. (1998); and China: 5,000 Years, Innovation and Transformation in the Arts, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, U.S. (1998).