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.
Village School
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Description
In this print, the artist depicts village school children listening in a class. The hoes and bamboo hats in the sunshine outside indicate that school children also take part in agricultural work for the state farm. Xu Kuang was sent to Chongqing in 1958 as an anti-socialist ‘rightist’ and later primarily worked as a professional artist in Sichuan Artists’ Association. Xu has been regarded as a key figure in the Sichuan School of printmaking, specializing in monochrome print.
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Details
- Associated place
- Date
- 1964
- Artist/maker
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Xu Kuang (born 1938) (printmaker)
- Material and technique
- two-block woodcut, printed with oil-based ink
- Dimensions
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sheet 63 x 70 cm (height x width)
print 43.2 x 57 cm (height x width)
- Material index
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Purchased, 2007.
- Accession no.
- EA2007.63
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Further reading
Weimin He, and Shelagh Vainker, Chinese Prints 1950-2006 in the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2007), no. 41 on p. 50, illus. p. 50
Past Exhibition
see (1)
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
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Chinese Prints 1950-2006 in the Ashmolean Museum
Art is derived from life, but it does not equal life. Art, from content to form, should be healthy and noble, bringing people spiritual strength and enjoyment of beauty.
Xu Kuang studied art at the private Tao Xingzhi Academy of Arts in Shanghai between 1951 and 1954 and then entered the Middle School attached to the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, where he learnt socialist realist theory and Soviet style drawing and painting. He was sent to Chongqing in 1958 as a Rightist and later primarily worked as a professional artist in the Sichuan Artists’ Association for nearly four decades. He brings realistic chiaroscuro drawing style into his woodcut technique, which produces subtle tones, whilst the overall form has a sculptural quality. His favourite subjects are mostly Tibetan or Yi ethnic minorities, and his work won many prizes in official exhibitions during the 1970s and 1980s.
Notice
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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