China’s greatest comic artist, He Youzhi, passed away in March in Shanghai at age 94. The first art exhibition memorial to him is being held in the Museum of Art in Ningbo, the artist’s home town, through to June.

Although born in Shanghai, He grew up in Ningbo’s Xinqi (today’s Beilun District). He started drawing comic strips in 1949 when he was the artist and editor at Shanghai People’s Fine Arts Publishing House. He published more than 100 comic books and among the most popular and representative of his art were: “Shanxiang Jubian” (adapted from Zhou Libo’s fictional story about changes in Chinese rural areas), “Bai Guang” (adapted from Lu Xun’s fictional story of the same name) and “360 Craftsmen in Old Shanghai.”

He created a distinctive art style which became known as “He-style line drawing.” China Art Museum director Shi Dawei praised the style as being “simple and abundant to the extreme, and humble and noble to the extreme.”

“He-style features integrating modern art perspectives into classical Chinese painting to depict normal people’s daily life,” said Lu Jingren, a student of He Youzhi, a designer of He’s books, and a professor in the Academy of Arts & Design, Tsinghua University.

Lu uses the teacher’s “360 Craftsmen in Old Shanghai” as an example to further highlight He’s style. The book takes readers back to the 1930s when Shanghai was controlled by both Chinese and foreign concession areas.

“It starts with a long gate-fold front page named ‘street scene’ drawn by my teacher when he was 80. Inspired by the perspective in the famous painting ‘Along the River During the Qingming Festival’ by Song Dynasty artist Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145), He captures the daily life of people and the landscape of Shanghai,” said professor Lu.

“He vividly depicts the era’s various crafts and figures in a fine and sharp way, including the dedicated barber, a soft and gentle flower girl, a playboy bullying others, a waiter quick-of-eye and deft-of-hand, and an angry foreman. The composition features a perfect balance between heavy and light while the strokes feature the harmony between real and virtual so that each figure is depicted with soul,” the professor explained.

He was given a Life Achievement Award by the Chinese Ministry of Culture in 2010 for his contribution to Chinese fine art. He remains the only Chinese artist whose portrait tile is included in the plaza of the Musee de la Bande Dessinee (the comic strip museum) in Angouleme, south France.

Ningbo, his hometown

He grew up in Ningbo from age 5 to 15 and considered it his hometown; his last creation is believed to a drawing about Ningbo.

“He visited Beilun District, Ningbo, once a year when he was in good health,” said Zhang Qimin, a good friend of the artist and general manager of Da Ke Tang Art Co.

He’s wife, Xie Huijian, recalled one of his last comments being: “If I go back to Ningbo this spring, I will choose high speed train because I’ve never tried it.”

The artist entertained people from Ningbo Museum of Art on the morning of the day he died, talking about his art donations and a new exhibition featuring his latest pieces.

“We contacted He four years ago about holding an art exhibition,” said Sun Zhou, curator and assistant director of art affairs and archives at Ningbo Museum of Art.

“Most of He’s art pieces had been donated to Shanghai so he decided to create new pieces for us. He created 30 artworks featuring Ningbo customs, old crafts and old street scenes. He donated two self-portraits showing his biggest hobbies in life, one depicting him drinking wine, the other depicting him drawing comics,” Sun added.

“Although He will never again visit Ningbo, his exhibition will be held as planned. We will publish He’s album of comics and hold a forum named after him in commemoration,” Sun added.

Artist of humble birth

Art critic Xie Chunyan attributed to He’s humble origins the artist’s ability to successfully convey through his art the vigor of China’s lower classes.

He published his comic strip biography titled “I am a Man of Humble Birth” in 2011. It details recollections of losing his mother when he was 5 and his father being unemployed when he was 15, that necessitating He taking an apprenticeship in a hardware factory in Shanghai.

“At night I slept on the floor of the factory where bugs crawled. In the winter the factory was so cold I curled myself up like a cooked shrimp,” the artist wrote.

He then moved to a printing factory where he started his art career by designing and drawing logos and soon made his name in town.

“He draws those basic craftsmen as though he is drawing himself, conveying bitterness. When the aristocrat’s blood turns bland, the blood and vigor of the lower class is mixed in for vitality,” said art critic Xie Chunyan.

He explained his style during an interview with Shanghai Morning Post before his death: “I draw comic strips that mostly depict people. I feel sympathy for every figure, no matter good or bad, so I sometimes cry when drawing.”

Believing that life is art, He preferred to stay in his tiny old 30-square-meter room on Julu Road than move to a spacious new apartment sponsored by Shanghai government and his friends.

“My residence is filled with life and human touches. When I am drawing upstairs, those housewives are cooking in the kitchen downstairs, saying ‘the shrimp I bought from the stall is overpriced’,” He told his good friend, the Shanghai celebrity writer Chen Cun.

He had an incredible photographic memory so his drawing style focused on tiny details in life, enriching his artworks with both art and history values. Some Shanghai historians, as a result, do research from the 1930s to 1940s based on his artworks.

In his book “360 Craftsman in Shanghai,” for example, he drew a boy pulling on a rope to tighten a ceiling fan to make it rotate. Such hand-driven ceiling fans were peculiar to that time.

“Unlike 3D movies, the comic strip is a one-dimensional media. So you need to capture more details close to life to make readers understand and [for the story to resonate,” the artist said during an interview.

He passed away taking with him a unique memory of details and time.

“His art cannot live without his terroir, the place he came from and the life he experienced. He-style comics can never be recreated,” said Shi Dawei from China Art Museum.