Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Ashmolean − Eastern Art Online, Yousef Jameel Centre for Islamic and Asian Art

Art in China in the 1960s and 1970s

(from 15th Apr 2011 until 15th Jan 2012)

Explore woodblock prints and ink paintings from around the period of the Cultural Revolution in China.

Detail of Dancing: Highland Barley Series No. 2, China, 1961 (Museum no. EA2007.80)
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Ah Q's vision of revolution

  • Description

    Zhao Yannian was born in Huzhou, Zhejiang province. In 1938 he studied at the Shanghai School of Arts, and joined the All China Association of Anti-Enemy Woodcut Artists in 1941. In 1950, he began to teach at the East China branch of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou. Zhao lost his post during the Cultural Revolution and resumed his teaching duties in 1972. He is particularly well known for his portraits of Lu Xun and illustrations for Lu Xun’s novels, such as the ones on display here. Zhao’s woodcuts are mostly in monochrome, with strong contrasts, reflecting the social conflicts of the times in which he lived.

    When Zhao lost his post at the Central Academy and was tortured in criticism sessions during the Cultural Revolution, he realized the striking similarity between the so-called ‘revolutionaries’ and those described in the True Story of Ah Q by Lu Xun. First published in 1921, the story is considered a masterpiece of modern Chinese literature, as the first work to fully take personal flaws as symptomatic of the Chinese national character. The national character is represented here by Ah Q, a man from the rural peasant class with little education and no definite occupation.

  • Details

    Series
    Sixty Illustrations of the True Story of Ah Q: 5
    Associated place
    AsiaChinaZhejiang province Hangzhou (place of creation)
    AsiaChina Hong Kong (probable place of creation)
    Date
    1978 - 1980
    Artist/maker
    Zhao Yannian (born 1924) (printmaker)
    probably Jat See-Yeu (1935 - 2009) (calligrapher)
    Material and technique
    ink on paper (calligraphy on left page); woodcut, printed with oil-based ink (print on right page)
    Dimensions
    page 39.6 x 29.5 cm (height x width)
    print 23.8 x 16.7 cm (height x width)
    calligraphy 31 x 12.4 cm (height x width)
    Material index
    Technique index
    Object type index
    No. of items
    n/a
    Credit line
    Presented in honour of the 75th birthday of Angelita Trinidad Reyes, 2007.
    Accession no.
    EA2007.223.b

Past Exhibition

see (1)

Location

    • currently in research collection

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