Yan Han   (b. 1916) Nianyuan Port, Jiangsu original name: Liu Yanhan

Yan began studying Chinese and Western painting in 1935 at the National Art Academy, Hangzhou, then the center in China for teaching Western modernist styles. After war with Japan broke out, he went to Yan'an and, in 1938, entered the Lu Xun Academy of Literature and Arts to learn woodblock printing. In 1939 Yan went to the Taihang Mountains (in the Hebei-Shanxi border area), where he created woodcuts at the Eighth Army Headquarters with other graduates of the Lu Xun Woodcut Workers' Group. Yan taught at North China University and then at the Lu Xun Academy of Art (Shenyang); from 1949, he taught first at the National Art Academy, Hangzhou, and then, in 1950, at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Yan participated in the First Congress of the All-China Art Workers' Association, held in 1949. His many official posts have included chairman of the Chinese Printmakers' Association and standing director of the Chinese Artists'Association.

36. Long Live Harmony and Peace 1952 95 x 65 cm Polychromatic; oil-based inks on yang paper 37. Old Shepherd 1957 50 x 44 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Seal: Yan Han; signed, title inscribed and numbered by the artist: 11/50     38. Wang Gui and Li Xiangxiang Three ilustrations from a series of thirteen for Li Ji s narrative poem 1961 A. No. 5 from the series 18 x 18 cm Polychromatic; oil-based inks on Chinese paper Seal: Yan Han; title inscribed by the artist       B. No. 9 from the series 19 x 24 cm   C. No. 13 from the series 13 x 21 cm The poem tells the story of how poor peasant Wang defeats the evil landlord Second Master Cui and how he gains the love of the peasant girl Li Xiangxiang. All is accomplished with the help of the Communist peasant militia The poet and folklorist Li Ji (1922-1980) interviewed peasants in northern Shaanxi to record variations of shuntianyou, a local folk song; he then wrote this poem in 1945, stringing together in the folk manner two-sentence jingles taken from his collection. Like Yan Han and Ai Qing (see cat 39), Li Ji was a veteran of Yan'an and, after the Yan'an Talks, became an ardent advocate of folk art forms     39. Illustration for Ai Qing's Poem "Reefs" 1981 31 x 36.8 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Signed and title inscribed by the artist The poem, written in 1954, describes how a reef that appears as fragile as lace has the inherent strength to resist relentless attacks by waves. The poet, Ai Qing (b. 1910; original name, Jiang Haideng), was also an artist as a young man. He belonged then to the woodblock artists' group in Shanghai called the Spring Field Research Society, whose patron was Lu Xun. With other members of the society, Ai was imprisoned by the Guomindang in 1932, for leftist affiliations. He and Yan Han are veterans of Yan'an, and their careers in many ways parallel each other.   40. Spring Rain 1984 30.5 x 37 cm Polychromatic; oil-based inks on Japanese cotton paper Signed and title inscribed by the artist