Gao Xingjian was born in 1940 in Ganzhou, in eastern China. He studied French literature until 1962 and was sent to the countryside for “re-education” during the course of the Cultural Revolution. He left China forever in 1987 and has lived in Paris since then. In 2000 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

He is also famous for his sensitive paintings, abstract works created using traditional Chinese materials like rice paper and ink. These works evoke landscapes, inner worlds and cosmic processes. Using only ink and a few brushstrokes, Gao creates convincing forms.

biography

1940 born in Ganzhou (Jiangxi province), China

1957-1962 studied French literature at the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute

1987 emigration to France, Paris

2000 Nobel Prize in literature