Walasse Ting, born in Shanghai, is a self-taught painter, sculptor, graphic artist and poet. Leaving China in 1949 to travel, he reached Paris in 1953 and became acquainted with artists Karel Appel, Asger Jorn and Pierre Alechinsky, members of the avant-garde group known as COBRA. Since 1963, he has lived in New York. Ting works in a variety of styles ranging from pure non-objectivity to figurative works portraying both people and animals.