Brush with history (3)

One of his most famous paintings - Chairman Mao and the Shepherd - was created during the period.

Since then, Liu has spent most of his energy studying the appearance and manners of Mao at different times and has painted his portrait thousands of times.

His enthusiasm even affected his daily life. He wears a light gray suit wherever he goes because Mao wore the same style clothes when he was in Yan'an.

"He just loves the suit. He is reluctant to try on any other clothes," said Chen Guangjian, Liu's wife.

In 1997, when Liu was attending the National People's Congress in Beijing, several workers from China Banknote Printing and Minting Corp, which is in charge of printing money, approached him and asked him to paint a portrait of Chairman Mao for the new set of renminbi.

Liu gladly took on the task and came up with the piece that is now everywhere in China.

Though he now suffers from serious arthritis, Liu said he still paints every day.

"Even until today, I still want to paint Chairman Mao," he said. "I will never be tired of painting him."

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