Alexandra Seno from the Wall Street Journal visits with Liu Xiadong as he savors his success:

In April 2008, an Asian buyer paid $7.9 million at Sotheby’s for Mr. Liu’s “Battlefield Realism: The Eighteen Arhats.” The work consists of nine pairs of portraits showing visiting front-line soldiers serving along a sea lane where Taiwan and mainland China continue to point missiles at each other. Last September, all of his 17 canvases on offer at “Yan’ Guan Town,” an exhibit at New York’s Mary Boone Gallery, sold at prices between $75,000 and $800,000.

“I have been painting for over 30 years, but I feel that I have just started,” said the artist, whose works are making their way to American institutions such as Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and San Francisco’s Asian Art Museum. “I have a very clear idea of what my paintings should be.” The 47-year-old Mr. Liu then returned to his cigarette and shot-glass-size cups of steaming gongfu tea.

A Chinese ‘Hometown’ Boy Made Good (Wall Street Journal)