The Soulful Quest: The New China Years (1949-1966)

“Only faithful and honest art can truly benefit mankind and rouse us to pull together to advance our society.”

── Huang Xinbo, Woodcutting and I, 1936

The year 1949 marks the end of the civil war between the Communist and Kuomintang forces, and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. Huang Xinbo left Hong Kong and returned to the Dongjiang liberated district. Following the army, Huang arrived in Guangzhou. Huang took up various posts, including the positions of professor at the South China People Academy of Literature and Art, chairman of the Guangzhou Division of the China Artists’ Association, president of the Guangdong Art Academy, and vice-chairman of the China Artists’ Association. Actively participating in various social activities, Huang united art circle and contributed greatly to the development of art in Guangdong. 

China’s warm diplomatic relations with other countries allowed visits from overseas artists to Guangdong in the mid and late 1950s. Huang Xinbo was one of the representatives to receive them. In 1956, Huang joined a delegation of Chinese artists on a visit to Bulgaria. During the trip, he made numerous sketches and had the chance to meet and engage in professional exchanges with local artists. Besides that, Huang arranged for the publication of a number of major art albums, while also working to call for national heritage donations. Despite the heavy workload, Huang maintained his own artistic output, including the production of many woodblock prints, woodcut series, caricatures and oil paintings, making this period one of the peaks in his artistic career.

Early in the founding of the People’s Republic of China, national priorities lay in the unification of the people and restoration of the economic means of production. Nationwide policies such as the Land Reform Movement (1950-1952), the First Five-Year Plan (1953-1957), the Great Leap Forward and the People’s Communes (1958-1960) were launched in rapid succession. In light of this, artists bore the solemn duty of educating the people and promoting government policy through the creation of art. During these years of patriotic fervour, Huang Xinbo also embraced the revolutionary spirit to express the joys, aspirations and patriotic passion of the people through his work. Throughout the 1960s, robust liberation movements sprung up in many countries. As colonial systems crumbled around the world, people regained their lost freedom and took back their land. Inspired by these changes, Huang produced many woodblock prints on the theme of national liberation and the people’s struggle for freedom. His works during this period include Torrent of Freedom (1961), Not a Single Gun Droops (1961) and the series, In the Firelight (1962); his praise and admiration for the independence movements of the world’s newly founded nations reflect also his exhilaration for China’s success in liberating herself. In addition, Huang recognised the development of science and technology as the way to solve China’s poverty problems. His work, Youth (1961), calls on Chinese youth to develop a more worldly vision and earnestly pursue advances in technology and science. The imagery is lucid and powerful, offering a direct message that carries a motivating and positive slant.

Huang Xinbo once declared, “An artist should care for himself as well as others.” Though Huang lived in the mainland during this period, his heart was very much tied to that of the Hong Kong people. In 1962, he created the series What Takes Place in Another World, which depicted the hard life of the Hong Kong people as he saw. The first in the series, “The Last Ferry”, depicts exhausted nightshift labourers headed home on the third-class deck of the ferry. In the second of the series, “Mountains and Rivers”, Huang illustrates the situation of Hong Kong under water restrictions. In the foreground, poor and thirsty people wait at the dry water tap in great duress. In sharp contrast, the background contains an ironic depiction of a garden of the wealthy, who take pleasure in owning water fountains. “She Does Not Know What Crime She has Committed” is the third among the series, and shows a poor young girl apprehended for selling newspapers. The work reflects the hardship and weariness of the people as they try to earn a living and make ends meet in difficult times.

Huang Xinbo remained faithful to his concept of New Art and his love for humankind. Through his work, he praised the perseverance of the people as they contribute to the founding of their motherland; and expressed his encouragement for them and their aspirations for the country. Not one to pay lip service, Huang took steps to strengthen his understanding of humankind and their well being and enlighten himself on the livelihood of the people. To gain first-hand experience, Huang accompanied other artists in visiting rural areas, successively visiting the fishing villages of Guanghai in Taishan County, Chenghai County, Shantou, and even rural areas in Shanxi to meet with the locals. These visits were a great source of inspiration for his art, resulting in such works as Across the South China Sea, produced in 1960. He witnessed the land reclamation of the sea in Zhanjiang and was deeply touched when hearing that the soil and rock used for the reclamation were dug out from a nearby mountain. The woodblock print captures the moment when the labourers unload the rock and soil into the sea. The forceful and striking lines carve out characters that are virile, bold and effusive, successfully illustrating the resolute faith of people participating in the building of a nation. After visiting Dazhai in Shanxi in 1964, he created Dazhai People and Warm Gentle Breeze on Earth, which depict the independence and self-reliance of the mountain villagers. These works represent a shifting artistic viewpoint in Huang’s art. Huang‘s portrayals once evoked a sense of noblesse oblige and sympathy towards the labouring classes from a scholarly perspective. After engaging and working with the people, his work began to offer a more humble sense of praise and admiration for their passionate contribution to the country.