Du Yuxi (1937) was born in Kelan, Shanxi Province and loved drawing when he was young. After his graduation from Taiyuan Normal University in 1955, he worked in a steelworks, but continued to create art in his spare time. He transferred to the Shanxi Provincial Artistic Work Office in 1973, and moved on to the Taiyuan Art Academy in 1986 to assume a teaching position.

Du is specialized in figurative painting in the gongbi (工笔, 'meticulous')-style. Some of his works have been awarded prizes, and others have been included in national collections.