Wang Xuetao (1903-1982), a native of Cheng'an, Hebei Province, was a famous modern Chinese painter of small freehand flower-and-bird paintings. In 1918, he entered the drawing department of the Baoding Zhili Higher Normal School. After graduation, he taught in elementary school. In 1922, he was admitted to the Western Painting Department of the Beiping College of Art, and later transferred to the Department of Traditional Chinese Painting. After graduating in 1926, he stayed at the school as a teaching assistant and lecturer. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, once Peking fell, he resigned from his teaching position, specializing in painting creation instead, and selling paintings for a living. In 1954, he served as the executive director of the Chinese Painting Research Association and was hired as an associate researcher of the National Art Institute of the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In 1955, he participated in the preparations for the Beijing Chinese Painting Academy. In 1957, he was appointed as the painter and member of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Academy. In 1978, he was appointed as the Dean of the Beijing Academy of Painting.