Niu Wen (1922-2009) was from Lingshi, Shanxi Province. He joined the People's Liberation Army in 1937. When he arrived in Yan'an in 1941, he entered the Lu Xun Academy there, and later worked in border areas such as the Jin-Sui Border Region. He followed the Army to Sichuan in 1949. In Chongqing, he worked as editor with the New China Daily and New China Pictorial.
Niu remained in Sichuan all his life, taking on several administrative responsibilities in the provincial art scene.