68.

Zhao Zongzao (b. 1931)

Competing with Dawn and Dusk

1975

Woodblock print

48 x 68 cm

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Posters are the most familiar art of the Cultural Revolution: bold, forceful and ephemeral, often with the image determined by the political slogan. By the early 1970s, more traditional art forms were revived, as with this print, and even Chinese brush and ink paintings—provided they carried messages of collective efforts towards economic productivity and national construction. This exquisitely shaded and detailed image, with its attention-grabbing, varied narrative, is pure propaganda at its finest.

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Muban Educational Trust registration number zhazz034