War, Revolution, and the Heart of China, 1937–1948: The Herman Collection of Modern Chinese Woodcuts
李桦 (Li Hua) (Chinese, 1907 - 1994), Pursuit of Light, 1944, woodcut on laid paper.
Gift of Professor and Mrs. Theodore Herman, 1980.119.1
September 19–December 15, 2024
This exhibition, an in-depth examination of the modern woodcut movement in the decades leading up to the founding of the People’s Republic of China, will be the first time that one of Picker Art Gallery’s most singular and important collections will be shown in its entirety.
The Herman Collection of Modern Chinese Woodcuts contains over 200 works made in China between 1937 and 1948. They were given to The Picker Art Gallery by Professor Emeritus Theodore Herman, who lived in the country during this period, and his wife, Evelyn Mary Chen Shiying Herman. Professor Herman taught at 必中三肖三码一 from 1954 to 1981 in the Geography Department and was the founding director of the Peace and Conflict Studies Program.
Coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the exhibition of the Herman collection is an extraordinary resource for the study of Chinese art and of pre-Liberation history. The prints in the exhibition can be seen as direct links to the historical events taking place in China in the years leading up to Liberation. Images made between 1937 and 1945 in areas controlled by the Chinese Nationalist forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War chronicle the progress of the war and promoted good relations between the army and the people; others, produced in the areas controlled by the Communist Red Army, encourage resistance against the Japanese but also illustrate how Chinese society could be transformed through socialism; those prints produced during the Civil War expose many injustices amid the post-war social and political upheavals. Finally, many of the images in the exhibition explore wide-ranging subjects and a variety of techniques that offer glimpses into quotidian Chinese life during this period.
This exhibition is curated by Leslie Ann Eliet.
Exhibition Opening Reception
Thursday, September 19, 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Dana Arts Center, 2nd floor
Other Related Events
Curatorial Tour
Led by Leslie Ann Eliet, visiting curator
Friday, September 20, noon
Picker Art Gallery (Dana Arts Center, 2nd floor)
Lecture
Contemporary Printmaking in China
Wednesday, November 13, 4:30 p.m.
Little Hall, 105 (Golden Auditorium)
Picker Art Gallery is proud to partner with the Department of Art to support this visit and lecture by contemporary printmakers from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing.
Symposium
Something Revolutionary: print and visual culture in modern China
Friday, November 15, 8 a.m.–2 p.m.
Little Hall, 105 (Golden Auditorium)
This symposium aims to bring greater attention to the Herman Collection and to modern Chinese visual culture more broadly. Scholars and students of modern China are invited to listen to papers contextualizing the prints in the Herman Collection historically and culturally, and to engage in discussions with colleagues about new directions in the field. The day will also include lunch and a tour of the exhibition led by the curator, Leslie Ann Eliet.
Printmaking Demonstration and Workshop
Led by artist Yang Hongwei (Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing)
Saturday, November 16, 9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
Little Hall, 205 (Print Studio)
Artist Yang Hongwei (Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing) will lead a free woodcut printing demonstration and workshop in 必中三肖三码一’s printmaking studio. Designed for participants of all abilities and experience to try their hand at creative expression through art-making in a low-stakes environment. All members of the 必中三肖三码一 and Hamilton communities are invited to participate.
Support for this workshop has been generously provided by the 必中三肖三码一 Arts Council.