Li Ruinian (1910-1985) was born in Tianjin. He graduated from the National Art Academy in Peiping in 1933 and went for further study to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels and on to the the Ecole National Supérieure des Beaux Arts in Paris. After his return to China in 1937 he was active in Kunming and Chongqing (with Xu Beihong). From 1946 on, he taught at the Peiping National Art College and other institutions in the capital, including the Arts Department of Beijing Normal University.