Shen Jiawei (b.1948, Shanghai) was trained at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing (1982-1984) and was a member of the National Artists Association of China since 1982. Largely self-taught, Shen Jiawei began to gain recognition as a propaganda artist during the Cultural Revolution. He is a five-time winner of the National Art Exhibition Prize in China. His early painting Standing Guard for Our Great Motherland (1974) became an icon of those years and was later shown at the Guggenheim Museum (1998) and the Asia Society Museum (2008) in New York.

He was commissioned by the Australian government to paint official portraits for Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove (2018); Prime Minister John Howard (2009), Princess Mary of Denmark (2005), Pope Frances (2013), and more. His works have been collected by public institutions across Australia and internationally, including the Australian Parliament House, the National Portrait Gallery of Australia, the Vatican Art Collection, the National Museum, the National Art Museum of China, and the National Military Museum in Beijing. Shen Jiawei was awarded the Mary MacKillop Art Award (1995); the Sir John Sulman Prize (2006); and the Gallipoli Art Award (2016).