Fu Baoshi, Ode to Yuhuatai, ink and color on paper, horizontal scroll, 1958
Ode to Yuhuatai by Fu Baoshi is a monochromatic image of the Yuhuatai landscape in Nanjing, China. The piece is a horizontal scroll with dimensions 60cm x 150.5cm, featuring delicate, yet twisted brushwork that seems to adhere to traditional Chinese landscape painting, while at the same time featuring the industrial progress of the Communist movement. Fu neatly blends power lines and smokestacks with pine trees and blank space, and ultimately creates a sort of personal point of view for the audience as we appear to gaze upon the Yuhuatai District below us from an elevated, wooded position. According to Julia Andrews, “[Fu Baoshi] was one of the greatest enthusiasts of the doctrine of revolutionary realism and revolutionary romanticism” (Julia Andrews, Painters and Politics in the People’s Republic of China, 1947-1979, p.287). This particular work appears almost real to viewers, as if we are taking in the sight for ourselves while braving the elements of a Winter’s day.
Ode to Yuhuatai is also a powerful image due to its context in Chinese history and its propagation of Communist resolve and success. Under Chiang Kai-Shek, “[Yuhuatai] was once a Nationalist execution ground where many Communist Party members and soldiers were killed” (Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/76687). After the Communist Party established itself as the governing body of China, Yuhuatai became not only a memorial site for fallen Communists, but stood as testament to the Communist ideals of perseverance and innovation. Fu clearly depicts this reality through masterful integration of industry with landscape, all the while maintaining traditional Chinese identity. Julia Andrews indicates that, “Whatever artistic affinities [Fu Baoshi] may have felt with previous artists were probably accentuated by his art historical awareness of the seventeenth-century “Eight Masters of Jingling”, a loose collection of Nanjing painters centered on Gong Xian and famous in the early Qing period” (Julia Andrews, Painters and Politics in the People’s Republic of China, 1947-1979, p.288). Gong Xian was an important Chinese painter who primarily produced landscape pieces. Ode to Yuhuatai reflects Gong’s traditional and intimate use of line to create depth in an image. Fu’s ability to create art that promoted the Communist cause while still adhering to traditional Chinese values was rather significant and allowed him to establish himself as an influential figure in the People’s Republic of China.
Bibliography:
Andrews, Julia. Painters and Politics in the People’s Republic of China, 1949-1979. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1994.
The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Accessed January 29, 2019. https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/76687.
“Fu Baoshi.” Claudio Bravo Biography – Claudio Bravo on Artnet. Accessed January 29, 2019. http://www.artnet.com/artists/fu-baoshi/.
