Li Hua ( 1907- 1994 ) Panyu, Guandong

Li studied Western oil painting in Guangzhou and Japan. Returning to China in 1932, he taught at the Guangdong Art Academy. In 1934, under the inhuence of Lu Xun, he founded the pioneering Modern Woodcut Society. His personal style was much influenced by the social protest styles admired by Lu, particularly that of Kaethe Kollwitz. Li was a founding member of the All-China Association of Anti-Enemy Woodcutters, in 1938, and was active in propaganda work in Chongqing, under the direction of Guo Moruo and Zhou Enlai. He enlisted in the army and documented its battles in ink and charcoal drawings. In 1946 Xu Beihong appointed him to the faculty of the newly opened National Beiping Arts College, which became, in 1953, the Central Academy of Fine Arts. In addition to creating art and teaching, Li was the author of numerous articles and books on art theory. He was a standing director of the Chinese Artists' Association and president of the Chinese Printmakers' Association. Li required his students to learn a repertoire of knife strokes before they could begin making prints, much as a traditional painter taught his students the repertoire of brushstrokes as a necessary foundation for painting.

26. Four prints from the series Raging Tide A. No.1: Struggle 1947 19.5 x 27 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Signed and title inscribed by the artist     B. No 2: Resisting the Grain Draft 1947 19.5 x 27 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Signed and title inscribed by the artist     C. No.3: Press Gang of Able-Bodied Men 1947 19.5 x 27 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Signed and title inscribed by the artist     D. No. 4. Rise Up! 1947 19.5 x 27 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Signed and title inscribed by the artist