Xiong Qinghua's oil painting work. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Xiong’s second solo exhibition, Immortal Village, ended on Friday at Beijing’s Chen Gallery, inside the 798 art district, and many paintings were sold. Meanwhile, a book about him titled A Wild Potato has also been published.

Viewers of Xiong’s paintings call him the "Vincent van Gogh of China" because of a mutual vigor in creation, a similarly unique approach when revisiting rural themes and being unrecognized for a long time.

"I can only laugh off the comparison. I feel a bit embarrassed. People do not know many (Western) painters and like to mention the few names they can remember when expressing compliments," Xiong told China Daily.

"Van Gogh died at 37 and sold only one painting in lifetime while I had sold more than 50 at the same age. In this respect, I think I’ve outperformed him," he joked.