Lu Xun, Li Yitai

Teaching Gallery Label:
“Changing the World: Images of Revolution,” Feb-2009, Kate Meyer and Kris Ercums
The writer Lu Xun (1881-1936) was never a member of the Communist Party, but his ideas and his passion for social justice were important in shaping the thinking of its leaders. He also was instrumental in finding means to disseminate ideas of reform. He founded and edited journals and, recognizing the potential of woodcuts as political tools, cultivated the Creative Print Movement, whose artists designed, cut the blocks and pulled the prints themselves. To foster the movement and introduce European social-activist ideas to China, he and a few friends collected and exhibited the work of European printmakers such as Käthe Kollwitz.

This portrait, which includes an image of Karl Marx on the desk and a print of “Black Anna” from Kollwitz’s Peasants’ War series on the wall, epitomizes the intellectual basis of the early revolutionary movement in China.

Exhibition Label:
"Using the Past to Serve the Present in 20th Century Chinese Painting," Oct-2006, Ai-lian Liu, Asian Art Intern
The writer Lu Xun (1881-1936) was never a member of the Communist Party, but his ideas and his passion for social justice were important in shaping the thinking of its leaders. He also was instrumental in finding means to disseminate ideas of reform. He founded and edited journals and, recognizing the potential of woodcuts as political tools, cultivated the Creative Print Movement, whose artists designed, cut the blocks and pulled the prints themselves. To foster the movement and introduce European social-activist ideas to China, he and a few friends collected and exhibited the work of European printmakers such as Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) and Frans Masereel (1889-1971).

This portrait, which includes an image of Karl Marx on the desk and a print of “Black Anna” from Kollwitz’s Peasants’ War series on the wall, epitomizes the intellectual basis of the early revolutionary movement in China.

Li Yitai, a professor at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou, originally made the print in 1974. This is probably a 1980s re-strike pulled by the artist from the original block.

Archive Label 2003 (version 1):
Mao Zedong once called the writer Lu Xun (1881-1936) “the chief commander of the revolution in Chinese culture.” Although Lu Xun was never a member of the Communist Party, his ideas were important in shaping the thinking of its leaders. Recognizing the potential of woodcuts as political tools, he founded the Creative Print Movement, whose artists departed from the traditional workshop method of producing prints to design, cut the block and pull the print themselves. To foster the movement, Lu Xun introduced European printmaking techniques and the work of social-activist European printmakers such as Kaethe Kollwitz (1867-1945) and Frans Masareel (1889-1971).

This portrait, with an image of Karl Marx open on the desk and a print from Kaethe Kollwitz’s series Peasants’ War on the wall behind him, epitomizes the intellectual basis of the early revolutionary movement in China. It is done in the style and technique that Lu Xun introduced and supported. The print was originally made in 1974. This is probably a restrike pulled by the artist from the original block in the 1980s.

Li Yitai is currently vice-chairman of the Zhejiang Printmakers’ Association and a member of the Chinese Artists’ Association.

Exhibition Label:
"Printed Art and Social Radicalism," Jun-2002, Stephen Goddard
The subject of this woodcut is the writer Lu Xun (1881-1936), the founder of the Creative Print Movement in communist China. The Creative Print Movement explored the use of woodcuts as ideological tools. Mao Zedong once called Lu Xun “the chief commander of the revolution in Chinese culture.” Lu Xun introduced European printmaking techniques and the work of social activist printmakers such as Käthe Kollwitz and Frans Masereel (both exhibited here) to Chinese artists.
Li Yitai has placed Lu Xun in an environment with clues to his intellectual interests. A portrait of Karl Marx is on the cover of one of the books on his desk, and Kollwitz’s print of “Black Anna” from The Peasants’ War series hangs on the wall.