01.
Wang Wei (b. 1942)
Cut Mark—Paying tribute to Anti-Japanese Woodblock Prints
2015
Screen print
70 x 140 cm
This colourful screen print commemorates the 70th anniversary of China's victory in the War of Resistance to Japan (1937-45). The print is full of imagery related to woodblock prints, especially those of the artist's father, Wang Qi (1918-2016), one of whose prints is recognizable in the top right corner. The importance of woodblock prints to China’s war effort was acknowledged in the foreign press, by sympathetic journalists such as Agnes Smedley (1892-1950) and author Pearl Buck (1892-1973).
Muban Educational Trust registration number wanvw001
02.
Chen Yuping (b. 1947)
Ode to Joy
1996
Woodblock print
69 x 91 cm
Chen Yuping was trained and worked as a hydraulic engineer in the 1960s, before studying printmaking and turning professional in the 1980s. A native of rural Heilongjiang, he creates in order ‘to bring life to the beauty of my native land.’ His vibrant landscapes are recognizable by their strong opaque oil-bound colours. Chen’s prints are firmly located within the traditions of the Great Northern Wilderness School, developed in the 1950s by mostly-amateur artists transplanted to develop northeast China.
Muban Educational Trust registration number cheyp046