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Celebrating patriotic master of woodcut prints
By Wu Huixin |
December 12, 2012, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WHILE China was torn by war and civil conflict, artists used wood chisels, brushes and pens to create works that inspired people to fight invasion and enemies.
Woodblock print master Zhang Yangxi (1912-1964) was one of the most famous of these artists, producing hundreds of prints and other works during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).
An exhibition of 200 of Zhang's works is underway at Zhejiang Art Museum through December 19. It includes prints, rare ink paintings, oil paintings and sketches.
The works fall into three categories: dagger, horn and pioneer. The "dagger" works made during the war years vilified traitors, aroused sympathy for victims and the underprivileged, and motivated people to resist. "Horn" works praised farmers and working people and the new People's Republic of China. "Pioneer" works were experimental woodcuts made while Zhang was exploring new forms of woodcut art in Hangzhou.
The three categories parallel developments in his own life.
The dividing line in Zhang's life was 1949. Before that, Zhang traveled and devoted himself to the anti-Japanese national salvation movement.
He was born in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, and lost both parents when he was seven years old. In 1927, with the financial assistance from an elder brother, he enrolled in the Sichuan Art Academy, majoring in woodcut art.
In 1930, a student strike created a storm in Chengdu, which a local warlord cruelly suppressed. Zhang created posters extolling the realistic and progressive outlook of the student rebels, an uncommon take on protest at the time.
As a result of his posters, his diploma was withheld and he was without means of support.
Well-off classmate Lei Xingzong helped him through difficulties and the two later married, despite objections from Lei's wealthy family who considered Zhang to be unworthy of their daughter in terms of means and status. Lei broke off ties with her family and joined Zhang.
During the 1930s, Lu Xun, the leading figure of modern Chinese literature, urged artists to use powerful woodcut print posters to inspire patriotism and fighting spirit.
Inspiring fighting spirit
Zhang threw himself into the movement, discarding his earlier subjects such as scenery and pretty women. He turned instead to political subjects, the national crisis and the suffering of the people.
In 1937, he was hired by the Xinmin Bao newspaper in Chengdu and drew Xinmin Comics, which played a major role in inspiring patriotism.
After China's victory in the anti-Japanese war, Zhang founded Zi You Hua Bao (Freedom Pictorial) and turned his comics art against Chiang Kai-shek, head of the Kuomintang government. It was welcomed by the public.
The American magazine The New Republic published Zhang's woodcuts in 1948 and said his works reflected a side of China under Chiang Kai-shek's rule that Americans had not seen.
Because of Zhang's opposition to the Kuomintang government, he and his family were forced to move frequently to avoid apprehension. His wife experienced a mental breakdown.
When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, Zhang no longer had to live on the run.
With help of the new government, in 1956 he established the Southeast Campus of the Central Academy of Fine Arts - today, the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou.
Xu Jiang, the current president of China Academy of Art, said that Zhang's greatest contribution to art was the establishment of the woodcut department.
The current exhibition includes Zhang's classic work "Send Meal to the Fields" created in 1956. He integrated the style of pictorial clay tablets of the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) and the style of the Zhejiang School of woodcut, using plain, strong lines to depict the environment and facial expressions.
Date: Through December 19 (closed on Mondays), 9am-5pm
Address: 138 Nanshan Rd
Tel: (0571) 8707-8700
Woodblock print master Zhang Yangxi (1912-1964) was one of the most famous of these artists, producing hundreds of prints and other works during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).
An exhibition of 200 of Zhang's works is underway at Zhejiang Art Museum through December 19. It includes prints, rare ink paintings, oil paintings and sketches.
The works fall into three categories: dagger, horn and pioneer. The "dagger" works made during the war years vilified traitors, aroused sympathy for victims and the underprivileged, and motivated people to resist. "Horn" works praised farmers and working people and the new People's Republic of China. "Pioneer" works were experimental woodcuts made while Zhang was exploring new forms of woodcut art in Hangzhou.
The three categories parallel developments in his own life.
The dividing line in Zhang's life was 1949. Before that, Zhang traveled and devoted himself to the anti-Japanese national salvation movement.
He was born in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, and lost both parents when he was seven years old. In 1927, with the financial assistance from an elder brother, he enrolled in the Sichuan Art Academy, majoring in woodcut art.
In 1930, a student strike created a storm in Chengdu, which a local warlord cruelly suppressed. Zhang created posters extolling the realistic and progressive outlook of the student rebels, an uncommon take on protest at the time.
As a result of his posters, his diploma was withheld and he was without means of support.
Well-off classmate Lei Xingzong helped him through difficulties and the two later married, despite objections from Lei's wealthy family who considered Zhang to be unworthy of their daughter in terms of means and status. Lei broke off ties with her family and joined Zhang.
During the 1930s, Lu Xun, the leading figure of modern Chinese literature, urged artists to use powerful woodcut print posters to inspire patriotism and fighting spirit.
Inspiring fighting spirit
Zhang threw himself into the movement, discarding his earlier subjects such as scenery and pretty women. He turned instead to political subjects, the national crisis and the suffering of the people.
In 1937, he was hired by the Xinmin Bao newspaper in Chengdu and drew Xinmin Comics, which played a major role in inspiring patriotism.
After China's victory in the anti-Japanese war, Zhang founded Zi You Hua Bao (Freedom Pictorial) and turned his comics art against Chiang Kai-shek, head of the Kuomintang government. It was welcomed by the public.
The American magazine The New Republic published Zhang's woodcuts in 1948 and said his works reflected a side of China under Chiang Kai-shek's rule that Americans had not seen.
Because of Zhang's opposition to the Kuomintang government, he and his family were forced to move frequently to avoid apprehension. His wife experienced a mental breakdown.
When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, Zhang no longer had to live on the run.
With help of the new government, in 1956 he established the Southeast Campus of the Central Academy of Fine Arts - today, the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou.
Xu Jiang, the current president of China Academy of Art, said that Zhang's greatest contribution to art was the establishment of the woodcut department.
The current exhibition includes Zhang's classic work "Send Meal to the Fields" created in 1956. He integrated the style of pictorial clay tablets of the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220) and the style of the Zhejiang School of woodcut, using plain, strong lines to depict the environment and facial expressions.
Date: Through December 19 (closed on Mondays), 9am-5pm
Address: 138 Nanshan Rd
Tel: (0571) 8707-8700
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