Illustration:
ill. 5.37 a (set: 5.36)
Date:
1977
Genre:
painting
Material:
scan, paper, colour; original source: ink on paper, colour
Source:
Traditional Styles: 激扬文字, 1977, (DACHS 2009 New New Year Prints), Heidelberg catalogue entry
Inscription:
一九二五年毛泽东同志在广州主编 政治通报 痛击 国民党右派的进攻
Keywords:
Mao Zedong, traditional Chinese painting style, guohua 国画, young Mao, Mao´s writings, calligraphy

Traditional Styles (Jiyang wenzi 激扬文字)

In spite of the fact that the production of “Hotel Art” (art produced for the foreign visitors who began to come to China more frequently after the Nixon visit in 1972) was a rather shortlived affair, its influence was obviously felt in the production of official MaoArt since the early 1970s as well. A rough statistical survey of several Cultural Revolution Poster collections shows that a sample from 1966-1971 would contain only ½ the number of traditional-style images from a sample 1971-1976.

While in the first half of the Cultural Revolution, Mao would not appear as he did in 1977, in an ink painting marked by its inscription of calligraphic poetry, he would make a comeback as such already in 1974 (ill. 5.37a & ill. 5.37b). A significant sign of a change in acceptability had been given with the opening of an exhibit of “Masterpieces of Chinese Traditional Painting” held at the Beijing Palace Museum (Art and China’s Revolution 2008:240) in 1971, to be continued, in 1973, by the State Council special exhibition of national style painting (Andrews 1994:350).