Self Defense Corps

No image available

自衛軍

1944

Xia Feng 夏風

(Chinese, 1914–1991)

Culture

China

Medium

Woodblock print; ink and oil on paper

Measurements

15.6 x 11.5 cm (6 1/8 x 4 1/2 in.)

Credit Line

Sundry Art - Miscellaneous Fund 2025.563

This artwork is known to be under copyright.

Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The Modern Woodcut Movement in China was initiated by Lu Xun (1881–1936), the father of modern Chinese literature who was greatly inspired by the expressionist artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945).

Description

Yan’an prints were made by artists active in the military base of Yan’an, Shaanxi province, North China, at the end of the Long March (1934–1936) and during the continuing civil war and Japanese invasion in the 1940s. Prints were made to help support the effort to build a modernized state and fight the enemy. They illustrate battle scenes, and the effort to bring education and aid to the rural population. Prints were given to foreigners, such as aid workers, doctors, and soldiers who, it was hoped, would support Chinese social and military efforts.