Helping Mongolian People with the Harvest

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.