Shi Lu (1919-1982) was born as Feng Yaheng (冯亚珩) in Renshou, Sichuan Province. He entered the Chinese Painting Department of the Dongfang Art School in Chengdu in 1934. In 1940, he went to Yan'an where he created woodcuts, New Year pictures and cartoons on revolutionary themes. He became a member of the Art Work Committee of the Shaan-Gan-Ning Border Area Art Association in 1944 and in 1948, he took up teaching at the Literature and Art Department of Yan'an University. In 1953, he became the head of Northwest Illustrated (Xibei huabao, 西北画报). He visited India and Egypt in 1956-1957, a trip that was to greatly inspire his future work. Acclaimed for his 1959 painting 'Fighting in Northern Shaanxi', originally created for the Museum of the Chinese Revolution, he came under criticism for the same painting in 1964. This conflict with the art establishment would exacerbate during the Cultural Revolution.