Nie Ou 聶鷗 China, b. 1948

Nie Ou was born in 1948 in Shenyang, Liaoning province. In 1954, her family moved to Beijing.

Nie studied with Xu Beihong, Li Keran, Li Kuchan, and Ye Qianyu at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts. She completed her postgraduate training there in 1981, and joined the Beijing Painting Academy as a professional painter that year. She married fellow artist Sun Weimin (b. 1946) in 1982.

Nie mainly paints in ink and at times in oil. She is known for her works that depict rural life. Observers have noted an evolution in Nie's style since 1985. Lucy Lim, curator of the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco, wrote that Nie's art became "more Chinese, less Western" at that time, capturing a "distillation of reality" as is typical of traditional Chinese paintings. Art historian Shao Yiyang described her style as "modern" and "typified by freer brushstrokes." She added that Nie's work demonstrates "a feminine sensitivity, meticulous detail, and ordered calm."

Nie's works are held in the public collections of the British Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Asian Art Museum, CAFA Art Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and Williams College Museum of Art.

After the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Nie studied Chinese ink painting under Li Keran (1907-1989, renowned contemporary Chinese painter) at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1978. She has had numerous solo and group exhibitions in mainland China, Hong Kong and overseas including in the United States, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Her works have been collected by National Art Museum of China, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, and other institutions and private collectors.