education was largely put on pause during this decade, her experiences of this rural landscape inspired her artwork for the rest of her career. Her depictions of Shanxi and its peasant residents were often calm, idyllic, and whimsical, offering a more intimate perspective on peasant life that differed from the energetic and devoted workers of government propaganda images from that era. In 1978, Nie was accepted to the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA), the leading arts academy in the nation. At CAFA, Nie was exposed to shuimohua (ink & color painting) for the first time, after having received her early training in Western mediums. She was 30 years old at the time of her acceptance, which also marked her official entrance into the Chinese art world. Later Work In 1990, Nie Ou and her husband traveled to Europe, where Nie was inspired by European artists like Camille Pissaro, Vincent van Gogh, and Jean-Francois Millet. In this period of her work, Nie fused visual concepts of realism and modernism, and experimented with a bold color palette that differed from the Chinese ink paintings of her earlier career. References Further reading 1948 births Living people 20th-century Chinese women artists 20th-century Chinese painters Chinese women painters Central Academy of Fine Arts alumni Artists from Beijing Artists from Shenyang Chinese contemporary artists