Xu Beihong (1895-1953), who was born in Yixing, Jiangsu Province, and is the son of  Xu Dazhang. Xu is not only an famous painter, bu also an visual arts educator. He studied at the State School of Fine Arts in Paris in 1927, and he was once president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts and chairman of Chinese Association of Fine Arts workers.

It calls for realism, the legacy of Chinese painting, which was in poor condition in the reform of the late Qing. Xu Beihong has put much effort in the Chinese art used in the modern world. He had great success in painting horses. He also managed to paint roosters, cows, cats, hawks, sparrows and human figures. In this work, Xu Beihong uses freehand brushwork to capture the essence of the subject while avoiding illusive details; this attempt appears to be successful. The painter adds light ink contour before the water on elegant stone is dried. This innovative treatment helps to create the shape of rooster by ink.