Illustration:
ill. 5.12
Author:
Hou Yimin (1930–) 侯一民
Date:
1961
Genre:
painting, oil painting
Material:
scan, paper, black-and-white; original source: oil painting
Source:
Andrews 1994: Andrews, Julia. Painters and Politics in the People’s Republic of China, 1949-1979. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994:245, fig.78.
Courtesy:
University of California Press Berkeley
Keywords:
Liu Shaoqi, Mao Zedong, red sun, Anyuan, workers, miners, restriction, Hou Yimin, Liu Chunhua, propaganda

Hou Yimin: Liu Shaoqi in Anyuan

Liu Chunhua’s painting Mao goes to Anyuan (ill. 5.1.) was originally painted in response to this1961 depiction of the events by Hou Yimin 侯一民 (1930–), which had been exhibited at the Museum of Chinese Revolutionary History, but was attacked as a "poisonous weed" in 1967 and reportedly destroyed after Liu Shaoqi (who figures prominently in this depiction) was condemned as a traitor and capitalist roader. The painting shows Liu Shaoqi in the very center of a huge group of fierce-looking workers—men and boys—all striding forward menacingly, determined to stand united against their exploiters. Liu’s central status is emphasized not just by his position, both close to but surrounded by the group of workers, but also by his bright shirt and face, which become the source of light in the painting reflected on the bodies and faces of those around him. Here, visually speaking, it is Liu, not Mao, who is the people’s "sun."