Li Shaoyan ( b.1918 ) Linyin, Shandong

In 1938 Li joined the Eighth Route Army in Shaanxi; his training included studying at the Shanbei Public School. He also learned to make woodblock prints, apparently self taught. He went on to study at North China United University, where he became leader of the art section. Transferred to the headquarters of the 120th Division of the Eighth Route Army in North Central China, Li was made secretary to generals He Long and Guan Xianyin. When He Long asked him to create woodblocks documenting the army's activities, he studied Soviet prints to learn how to design them. In 1949 Li travelled with General He's army to Chongqing, in Sichuan Province, where he headed the art group of the newspaper New China Daily until 1954. He has been vice-chairman of the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts; chairman of the Sichuan branch of the Chinese Artists' Association; vice-chairman of the Chinese Artists' Association, the Chinese Printmakers' Association, and the Sichuan Literary Union; vice-minister of the Ministry of Propaganda of Sichuan Province; and a people's representative from the Third to the Seventh People's Congresses of the Chinese Communist Party.

80. Breaking the Road 1957 25.5 x 77 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Signed and title inscribed by the artist The print depicts the destruction of a road during the Anti-Japanese War. Working by firelight in the middle of the night, soldiers and peasarts with farm tools rush to disrupt the enemy's lines of communication.   Li Shaoyan and Niu Wen 81. Finished With Medical Studies, She Returns 1954 25 x 37.5 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper With a stethoscope protruding from her pocket, a young Zangzu (Tibetan) woman is greeted by family and friends. The herds of animals, houses and sheds, clothing, and farm implements are all specific to the Tibetan way of life.