Zhao Yannian   (b. 1924) Huzhou, Zhejiang

In 1938 Zhao entered the Shanghai College of Fine Arts, where he studied both Western and Chinese art. He began to learn woodblock carving informally in 1939 and joined the All-China Association of Anti-Enemy Woodcutters in 1941. Throughout the 1940s Zhao worked as both a teacher of fine arts and a fine arts editor and, after 1949, as an illustrator for the Shanghai People's Art Press. In the mid-1950s he began teaching at the East China branch of the Central Academy of Fine Arts (aftenwards, the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts and now the National Academy of Arts), where he is a professor. Zhao has also been a standing member of the councils of the Chinese Printmakers' Association and the Zhejiang branch of the Chinese Artists' Association, honorary chairman of the Hangzhou branch of the Chinese Artists' Association, and director of the Chinese Artists' Association. His special genius lies in psychological portraits, which often take the writings of Lu Xun for their subjects.

60. Rioting for Rice 1947 28 x 25.5 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper The date and the artist's initials in roman letters carved in the block; signed, title inscribed and numbered by the artist: 18/50 The sign above the crowd reads, "China Rice Warehouse."     61. Discarded Baby 1948/1994 11.8 x 16 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Artists initials in roman letters carved in the block; signed, titled and inscribed by the artist: "reprinted in 1994"       62. Rise Up! Slaves Suffering Hunger and Cold! 1954/61 46.5 x 50.5 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on dyed Chinese paper Signed. title inscribed by the artist with his notation: "reprinted in 1961" The title is the first line of The Internationale, anthem of the nternational Communist movement. The second stanza exhorts enslaved peoples to shake off the bonds of old ideas. After 1949, China joined other socialist countries in supporting revolution. The slave, pictured breaking his chains, is not Chinese.     63. Protest 1956 37.8 x 48 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper The print commemorates the May 1933 visit by Lu Xun, Song Qingling (the widow of Sun Yatsen), and others to the German consulin Shanghai, where they submitted a memorandum protesting Nazi brutalities. In Jnauary of that year, Lu Xun had joined Madam Sun in founding the Chinese League for the Protection of Human Rights.   64. Mr. Lu Xun 1961 30 x 42.3 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on pi paper Signed and title inscribed by the artist     66. The Biography of Ah Q Four prints from a cycle of sixty illustrations for a lianhuanhua based on Lu Xun's story 1978-1980 Black and white; oil based ink on pi paper A. No. 1 from the series 19 x 13.5 cm       B. No. 10 from the series 25 x 17 cm       C. No. 15 from the series 24.5 x 16.5 cm       D. No. 38 from the series 24.5 x 16.5 cm The Biography of Ah Q, considered Lu Xun's finest story and known to every Chinese schoolshild, is bitterly ironic in tone. The hero is a braggart, bully, coward, and small-time thief. The sixty prints in Zhao's series are illustrations for a lianhuanhua (literally, "linked serial pictures"), a small-book format that combines pictures with text much as comic books do (see "Explanation of Technical Terms"). (One Slab of Stone [cat. 90] is another example of the type.) The artist wrote the relevant quotations from Ju's text on the matting of the prints in this exhibition.       68. Nightmare: Number One 1989 57 x 48.5 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Signed, title inscribed and numbered by the artist: 7/30 The print is a self-portrait of Zhao Yannian.         69. Long Road: Number Two 1998 57 x 73 cm Black and white; oil-based ink on Chinese paper Signed, title inscribed and numbered by the artist: 3/20