Beauty in North, an oil painting by Wang Qijun.

　　Beauty in North, an oil painting by Wang Qijun, was sold for 1.1 million yuan ($171,880) at the Beijing Hanhai 2015 Autumn Auctions on Friday.

　　Wang, professor of the Beijing-based China Central Academy of Fine Arts, is famous for mingling  with ordinary people and doing paintings in a true-to-life style.

　　"His figure paintings are in a realistic style. He is good at depicting the work scene of ordinary people of different nationalities and the touching moment in their life," said Du Zhesen, an art critic inBeijing.

　　Message of Spring, an oil painting by Wang three years ago, gives testimony to Du's comment.

　　In December 2001 when Wang was chatting with an old Tibetan woman in Lixian county, Sichuanprovince, her son called from outside her hometown. The joy of the woman who had purchasedcommodities for the upcoming New Year in answering the call touched Wang, inspiring his painting   Message of Spring.

　　The painting was placed at the entrance to the Cultural Palace of Nationalities in Beijing duringthe National Day holiday last October when the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council  and the Ministry of Culture jointly held a painting exhibition.

　　Wang has visited many Tibetan-inhabited areas including those in Sichuan many times.

　　His book Contemporary Realistic Oil Painting Techniques will be published by the Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House. He hopes that more readers will share his realistic painting techniques.

Wang Qijun works on a painting.

Wang Qijun (right) chats with locals in a Tibetan-inhabited area in Sichuan province.

Message of Spring, an oil painting by Wang Qijun.

Woman in Courtyard, an oil painting by Wang Qijun.