Hua Tianyou (1902-1986) was from Huaiyin, Jiangsu Province. He graduated from the Jiangsu No. 6 Teachers Training College in 1924 and taught art and music in primary and secondary schools. In 1930, he started his studies in sculpting, and in 1933, Xu Beihong helped him to move to France, where he continued his studies at the Ecole National Supérieure des Beaux Arts. During his sojourn in France, Hua won a gold and a silver prize at the Paris Salon de Printemps des Arts. In 1948, he answered Xu Beihong's call to return to China and he became professor in the Sculpture Department of the Peiping National Art School. From 1952 until 1966, he was a professor in the Sculpture Department of the Central Art Academy; he participated in the work for the Monument to the People's Heroes on Tian'anmen Square. One of Hua's sculptures was included in the collection of the Musée d'Art Moderne in Paris in 1946.