national artworks -...

National Artworks Collected & Donated Project

Li Qun 国家美术作品收藏和捐赠系列：力群·彦涵·王琦

力群

Commentary on the Artworks

版画捐赠作品

艺术家简历

家属访谈

相关艺术评论

图版索引

Donated Print Works

Resume of the Artist

Family Members’ Interview

Plate Index

5

1

23

31

85

Content目录

Resume of the Artist艺术家简历

3

1912年12月 — 2012年2月10日

原名郝力群，山西灵石人，擅长版画、中国画。1931年入国立杭州艺术专科学校，1933年参加“木铃木刻研究会”，从事版画创作，并参加中国左翼美术家联盟。代表作品有《鲁迅像》《病》《收获》等。其中最具代表性的作品是木刻版画《鲁迅像》，也是流传最广的鲁迅像。

力群于1940年到延安，1941年11月加入中国共产党，并担任鲁迅艺术文学院美术系教员、中华全国文艺界抗敌协会执行委员会委员。1942年参加延安文艺座谈会。1945年任晋绥文联美术部长和晋绥《人民画报》主编。曾为中国版画家协会名誉主席、山西省文联名誉主席、山西省老文学艺术家协会主席、山西省美术家协会名誉主席、西北师范大学美术系名誉教授、山西画院名誉院长。获“中国新兴版画杰出贡献奖”。享受国务院政府特殊津贴，被山西省委、省政府授予“人民艺术家”称号。

力群 | 艺术家简历 Resume of the Artist

力群

Li Qun

December, 1912— February 10th, 2012

Li Qun was born in Lingshi county, Shanxi province, with the former name of Hao Liqun. He was good at prints and Chinese paintings. He was admitted to National Hangzhou Arts College in 1931. He joined in Muling (Wooden Bell) Woodcuts Institute in 1933 to focus on prints creation. Besides, he also joined in Left-wing Artists Alliance. His representative works include The Portrait of Lu Xun, Illness and Harvest. The most representative one that has become the most popular is The Portrait of Lu Xun.

Li Qun arrived at Yan’an in 1940. In November 1941, he joined Chinese Communist Party, worked as a teacher at the Arts Department, Lu Xun Institute of Arts and Literature and acted as a member of executive committee for the All-China Anti-Japanese Association of Writers and Artists. He at-tended Yan’an Forum on Literature and Arts in 1942. He acted as the chief of Fine Arts Department of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC), Jinsui and the chief editor for People’s Pictorial in 1945. He used to act as the honorary chairman for China’s Prints Artists Association, the honorary chairman for CFLAC, Shanxi Province, the chairman of Shanxi Province Senior Literati and Artists Association, the honorary chairman for Shanxi Province Artists Association, the hon-orary professor for Arts Department of Northwest Normal University and the honorary president of Shanxi Arts Academy. He received Outstanding Contribution Award for China’s Emerging Prints and enjoyed special government allowances of the State Council. He was dubbed The People’s Artist.

Donated Print Works版画捐赠作品

6 国家美术作品收藏和捐赠系列：力群·彦涵·王琦

The Portrait of Lu Xun

1936鲁迅像

12.2cm × 10cmA Black and White Woodcut Print黑白木刻版画

7 力群 | 版画捐赠作品 Donated Print Works

Fighting

1937抗战

9.9cm × 13.4cmA Black and White Woodcut Print黑白木刻版画


Listen to a Lecture

1940听报告



Drink Water

1940饮

19.2cm×13.8cm

黑白木刻版画A Black and White Woodcut Print


The Portrait of Comrade Mao Zedong

1943毛泽东像



Dawn

1957黎明

35.5cm × 25.4cmA Colored Woodcut Print套色木刻版画


Singing Outside of Willow Branches

1959帘外歌声

40.5cm × 29cmA Black and White Woodcut Print黑白木刻版画


Dense Forest and Strong Sheep

1962林茂羊肥



In the Woods

1980林间



Summer of Tianshan

1980天山之夏

54.8cm × 41cmA Colored Woodcut Print套色木刻版画


Spring Comes to Dongting Lake

1981春到洞庭湖

41.5cm × 40.3cmA Colored Woodcut Print套色木刻版画


Red Pandas

1981小熊猫

37.7cm × 40cmA Colored Woodcut Print套色木刻版画


Summer Wind

1981夏风



The Image of Happy Fishes

1983鱼乐图


Family Members’ Interview

Interviewer: Wu ShixinRespondent: Hao Xiang (Li Qun’s thrid son) Hao Hong (Li Qun’s second daughter) Jin Yeqian (Li Qun’s daughter-in-law for his third son)

家属访谈

采访人：吴士新受访人：郝相（力群三儿子）郝红（力群二女儿）

金叶倩（力群三儿媳）


力群先生是延安时期版画的领军人物之一，与古元、彦涵等人为新中国的版画艺术做出了巨大的贡献，您能不能谈一下力群先生的艺术历程？

我跟我父亲在一起的日子真的不是很多，我当兵时间很长，复员回来以后又到四川去了，我跟我爸接触得比较少，但该了解的还是了解的。他的一生经历很多，故事很多，你们可以看他的自传《我的艺术生涯》，那都是第一手材料。

这么说吧，我父亲这一生在版画和文学方面受谁影响最深？是我舅舅曹白。曹白和我父亲是同学关系，一起搞版画。曹白有很多文学作品，通过和鲁迅通信、见面，直接受鲁迅的指导。我父亲自然会受到影响。

要了解力群的版画，就要了解新兴版画运动是怎么兴起的。什么叫新兴版画？鲁迅怎么开始发起的新兴版画运动？老爷子的自传交代了上面的问题，我认为这本书资料性很强。还有一本书，就是纪念江丰的《发现：百年江丰文献集》。江丰是新兴版画的先驱，参加过木刻讲习所。那是鲁迅于1931年在上海创办的。当时上海是中国的文化中心，绝对的。最新的思想、最新的潮流都在上海，所以当时的很多文化人集中在上海，都愿意来上海。后来其中的一部分人去了延安。再后来大的分区就这样分，一个叫国统区的艺术，一个叫解放区的艺术。本来在上海的许多年轻知识分子在抗战爆发后都跑到延安了，躲避抗战的去了西南，要求参加抗战的去了延安。这是我个人的划分。

力群先生是哪年去的延安？

1938年，跟我妈妈一块儿过去的。到延安后就随光未然去了宜川。那个时候大背景是国共合作，宜川是阎锡山的地盘。我们就进了阎锡山的地盘。为了国共合作，就在宜川建立了一个艺术学校。但是办了不久，出于种种原因就散了。1940年我父亲回到了延安。

力群先生曾说，1942年毛主席的延安文艺座谈会对他的艺术影响很大。您觉得这种影响体现在什么地方？

当时在延安的那一批画家都受到了延安文艺座谈会的影响。从这个时候开始，他们的画风突变。过去艺术家都是“为艺术而艺术”，而很少把“为人民而艺术”作为创作的中心思想。版画为什么有这么大的声势、这么大的动静？因为共产党非常重视版画，从鲁迅开始就提倡 “艺术要干预生活、干预社会”。这之前的版画创作也不能说没有干预生活，但那是个体的生活、自我的生活，我们谈到的是社会的生活。鲁迅希望新兴版画不是引进了一个画种，一种艺术语言，而是借助版画扩大艺术的功能。鲁迅主推德国表现主义画家珂勒惠支，还有比利时的麦绥莱勒。麦绥莱勒的作品刻画了光怪陆离的资本主义社会，中国的版画青年非常喜欢，跟着学。改革开放以后，美术界开始学习西方，出现了“85新潮”。实际上，对于我爸来说，这些在20世纪30年代都玩腻了，就玩得不再玩了。在国立杭州艺专的时候，谁是先锋啊？李可染，那批人包括赵无极他们。李可染最后还是不骛旁心，一心画国画。我就很想看看李可染在杭州时期的作品到底是个什么样子。林风眠这点好，不分门派，不管你画什么，只要是认真做艺术他都支持。哪怕国民党在监视，他的教务长就是这样子。因为鲁迅的推动，新兴版画的政治倾向性一上来就很强，揭露社会黑暗，为劳苦大众呐喊。鲁迅的小说也是啊，他有一个集子就叫《呐喊》，反映社会，干预社会。

延安文艺座谈会要解决的问题是艺术为什么人的问题和普及、提高的问题，普及的首要任务是形式问题。你向老百姓做宣传，人家得爱看，看得懂。这样就要从传统学习，向民间学习，然后就有了《丰衣足食图》。形式问题是个很重要的问题，一切文学、艺术都有这个问题。五四新文化运动之后提的是大众艺术、大众文学。那只是解决了表现劳动群众、描写劳动群众的问题，没有解决劳动群众喜欢看、看得懂的问题。鲁迅的小说有几个人看得懂？祥林嫂就没有白毛女那样家喻户晓。赵树理真正解决了这个问题，真正做到了雅俗共赏。一个《小二黑结婚》，解放区、国统区的人都知道了他。香港都出版了连环画，影响力之大可见一斑。老百姓就特别喜欢，会讲、会唱，当时没有任何人的任何作品可以普及到这个程度，

吴士新：

吴士新：

吴士新：

郝相：

郝相：

郝相：

25 力群 | 家属访谈 Family Members’ Interview

能在民间生根开花可不是件容易的事。

当时为了宣传、战斗的需要，延安解放区木刻从年画、门神画、画像砖、剪纸等民间美术中吸收了大量的形式元素。我看力群先生受剪纸的影响比较大。像力群、古元的版画就有那种传统的民间美术的对称、均衡的审美风格在里面。力群先生的版画作品除了剪纸以外，还受哪些艺术的影响？

蜡染吧。这是后来的事情，《林茂羊肥》是他学习了蜡染后创作的作品。这是我父亲在宁夏搞“四清”时候的作品。在宁夏“四清”时，我父亲出了一批作品。代表作除了《林茂羊肥》，还有一幅大家喜欢的作品《春夜》，侯一民称赞这幅作品像油画。

力群先生的教育成就也是我关注的，您能不能谈一些他的艺术教学思想和方法？

他办版画培训班，从创作入手，遇到什么问题就给你讲什么问题。一上来就搞创作，不是学好了理论知识再创作。培训班毕竟有时间限制，短期的，一个月、两个月、三个月就能办个画展。过去的教学都是什么静物啊，石膏啊，或者人物肖像啊，你在那坐着，我给你画一个。我父亲不是，搞创作就要有场面，生活场面，生活细节，一上来就搞创作，画自己的工作和生活，画自己熟悉的东西，画完就帮你改稿子，边改边讲，应该怎样，不要怎样。这个教学方法很出成果，学员能听得懂，记得住，吸收快。一期培训结束，就能办个画展，学员们都信心满满。在宁夏“四清”时他办的培训班最出名，出了很多出色的作品和优秀的学生。学生中后来出了有名的画家，像韩惠民、赵宁安等。

您刚才谈的关于过去彦涵那一辈艺术家在国立艺专争论的问题，是“艺术人生”，还是“人生艺术”，这里面可能没有您刚才谈的那么清楚，但讲的是同一个道理。

从延安出来，关于这个问题就特别明确了。像彦涵，他有一种责任感、使命感。穿过敌人的封锁线去买点画画的材料，那就是玩命。他们在根据地跟八路军总部在一起。太行山上什么都没有，就跑到西安。要去西安，就要通过敌占区，就为买点油墨、纸张、画具这些东西，出生入死的。这可真是为了艺术去献身了。都说为艺术献身，这能一样吗？首先是为的不一样的艺术。

我爸画画还有一个特点，他会向家里的孩子征求意见。他很尊重别人的意见，比如你们刚才谈到的《春夜》。我爸问我：“这张画表达的是什么？”我回答说：“开会呢！”我爸很高兴，他要表达的就是开会的热闹场面，但是你又看不到一个人，仅从橘黄色的通亮的灯光和满院子的自行车就把屋里开会的场面反映出来了。

他还有一个特点，不管谁来请教，他都来者不拒。我记得我们家被下放到农村以后，有个农民扛着一袋大米从很远的地方来我们家求教。我爸爸热情地接待了他，并留他在家吃饭，然后针对他的情况耐心地讲，告诉他应该看些什么书、看些什么画，主要靠临摹，多画写生。

力群先生一生的艺术生涯，您认为大概可以分几个阶段？刚才您也提到，从延安文艺座谈会后他的风格就转变了。那么在新中国成立以后，他的风格发生了哪些变化？从您的角度能不能概括一下？

纵观我父亲的作品，一直都是在变化的，他有这种要变化的愿望和追求，就是要做的不能老是一个样子，要创新。艺术家要经常地自己否定自己，才能再往前走，你要老觉得自己的东西都挺好，就很难再往前走了。要和彦涵比起来，彦涵的作品有突变，从20世纪80年代以后就突变了，这个不得了。李可染有一句话叫“可贵者胆”。你有这个胆吗？否定自己重新来，“可贵者胆”就是这个意思。我父亲没有，他基本上还是按照自己的面貌往前走，他

吴士新：

吴士新：

吴士新：

吴士新：

郝相：

郝相：

郝相：

郝红：

金叶倩：


没有这种突变，但你还是可以明显地看到他的变化。从20世纪30年代到80年代，那变化挺大的。他的变化，我分为四个阶段，去延安以前算一个阶段，去延安以后算一个阶段，进城以后是一个阶段，“文革”以后是一个阶段。但他的这种变化是循序渐进的，不是那种大的突变。他走得比较稳。行家一看就是力群的东西。到后来，一看是力群的东西，别人就不敢揽。简单地说就是这个样子。如果每个时期的风格要专门讲，那我要想一下，不能随口就这么说。

20世纪80年代以后，他在创作上就井喷了一下，产量很大。很长时间有一个令他苦恼的问题，想创作却没有时间。新中国成立以后，他总是做行政工作，一会儿要做领导，一会儿又要做刊物，每天都在看文章、写文章，那时候他在做《美术》的执行主编，又办展览，审画稿，没完没了地开会，哪有时间搞创作。有一批这样的人，像江丰、胡一川、赖少奇、李少言……但想一想，我爸在新中国成立以后、“文革”之前的作品也不少，就靠挤时间，见缝插针。

我也感觉他在“文革”以后放开了。画面不是那么紧绷着了，很放松，很自由。最具代表性的是《林间》，用大圆口刀，一刀从头捅到底，酣畅淋漓，痛快，刻得非常自由。“文革”之后比较受大家喜欢的作品有《夏风》《春到洞庭湖》。《春到洞庭湖》本来叫《春风又绿江南岸》，后来他跟我商量，我说直接用一句诗，这么长的名字好吗？他就改了。但他的创作想法确实是这个意思。

力群先生对子女的教育，你们感觉有哪些印象深的、比较珍贵的东西？

我感觉我爸爸是个很开放的人，他没有那些封建传统。小时候很多孩子都愿意来我家玩，无拘无束，没规矩，没有那么多这不许那不许的。我感觉很幸福，很自由，没有约束。我先生是洋人，我爸没有意见，自由恋爱，自己选择自己的人生。

一个是婚姻，你爱跟谁跟谁，只要你爱。他说，婚姻是自己的事，自古封建婚姻制造了多少爱情悲剧，什么《红楼梦》《西厢记》。到今天还要干涉？还要不停地制造悲剧？第二是工作选择，他不认为工作有贵贱之分。我觉得比较可贵的是不走后门，我们都是自己靠自己。他说：“我是地主的儿子，我都要背叛自己的家庭出去闯去，你们更应该靠自己，自己闯。”我们的家庭很民主，特别开放、自由。

力群先生除了版画，在文学方面也很好啊。你们知道他这个版画和文学之间有什么关系吗？

我觉得硬要把这两个东西联系起来挺难的。若问他对文学感兴趣是从哪儿开始的，父亲对我讲是从住监狱开始的。他住监狱的时候心能静下来。是啊，在那儿不可能画画，也不可能搞什么版画创作，但能看书，最重要的是他在监狱里读了《圣经》（新、旧约）。用他的话说，只有在监狱里才能把《圣经》读完，平时没有那个耐心。为什么要看《圣经》呢？他觉得他是搞美术的必须看，因为从中世纪以来到文艺复兴，世界上著名的画作基本上都取材于《圣经》里的故事和人物，还有希腊神话。除了《圣经》，我爸爸还读了《红楼梦》《古代世界史》，特别是读了鲁迅的小说，使他爱上了文学。父亲说：“我一生最崇拜两个人，一个人是鲁迅，另一个人是毛泽东。”

郝相：

吴士新：

吴士新：

郝红：


As one of leading figures in prints during Yan’an Period, Li Qun made a great contribution to prints art of new China with Gu Yuan and Yan Han et al, so would you please talk about his art history of Mr. Li Qun?

There was not a lot of time I had been with my father. I had served in the army for a long time. I went to Sichuan province after I demobilized, so I had infrequent contacts with my father. But I still have a primary understanding for him. He experienced a lot in all his life and there are many stories about him. You can read his autobiography, My Life in Art, which introduces a lot of information about him.

Let’s put it this way. Do you know by whom was my father influenced most in his life regarding prints and literature? It was my uncle, Cao Bai. Cao Bai and my father were classmates and worked on prints together. Cao Bai wrote many literature works. He kept in touch with Lu Xun by writing mails and meeting him to get the instruction from Lu Xun. So it was normal that my father was under his influence.

To understand Li Qun’s prints, it is necessary to understand the following questions, such as how the new emerging prints started, what new emerging prints is, and how Lu Xun initiated new emerging prints movements? My father’s autobiography answered all these questions. I think this book introduces a lot of information. Besides, there is another book, Discovery: a-hundred-year-literature-collection of Jiangfeng which is the archives collection in memory of Jiang Feng for his 100th anniversary. At that time, Shanghai was absolutely the culture center of China. All the new thoughts and new trends arose in Shanghai, so many intellectuals went to there. Later on, some of them went to Yan’an. So the arts during that time were categorized according to different areas with one of the Kuomintang-controlled area art and the other of art in liberated areas. A lot of young intellectuals went to Yan’an after the war of resistance against Japan broke out. Some who wanted to avoid the fighting against Japan went to southeast China, and some who wanted to participate in the war of resistance against Japan went to Yan’an, which is my personal opinion on the categories.

When did Li Qun go to Yan’ an?

In 1938. He went there with my mother. After he arrived at Yan’an, he went to Yichuan. It was the Kuomint-ang-Communist cooperation period during that time with Yichuan under the control of Yan Xishan. So they went there. To achieve Kuomintang- Communist cooperation, they built an art school in Yichuan. However, it was not a long time that the school was broken up for a variety of reasons. So my father returned to Yan’an in 1940.

Li Qun said Yan’an Forum on Literature and Arts in 1942 had big effects on him. Do you think what these effects were?

All those artists in Yan’an that time were affected by Yan’an Forum on Literature and Arts. Their arts style showed extremely big changes since that time. In the past, artists always worked on art just for art itself rather than for the core idea of making art serve the people. As the question why prints had such a momentum, it was because that the communist party paid much emphasis on prints and that Lu Xun started to advocate that “Arts shall involve in life and reveal social problems”. It does not mean that previous prints did not involve in life, but the life was about the individual’s life, while what we are talking about is the social life. Lu Xun hoped that the new emerging prints were not a new type of painting or a new kind of art language, but hoped it could expand the functions of arts. It was Kaethe Kollwitz, an expressionism artist from Germany and Masereel, a Belgium artist that were strongly recommended by Lu Xun. The works of Masereel depicted the grotesque capitalism society, which were liked and imitated by the Chinese youth who worked on prints. After reform and opening, art community started to learn from western art, which resulted in the “85 New Tide Fine Arts Movement”. In fact, my father said these had been practiced a lot in 1930s. Who were the pioneers at the times of National Hangzhou Arts College? It was Li Keran and Zhao Wuji et al. Li Keran focused on traditional Chinese paintings all the time. I really want to have a look at the works of Li Keran at the times of National Hangzhou Arts College. Lin Fengmian did a better job, because he did not care about the different art schools, and he supported everyone who worked hard at art despite of what they drew. Under the surveillance by Kuomintang though, that was what he did as academic chief. The political tendency of emerging prints was very obvious from the beginning under the push by Lu Xun, which was to reveal the dark society and raise their voice for the masses. So was the novels written by Lu Xun. He had a collection named Cry out, which revealed the society and involved in social life.

The issues that Yan’an Forum on Literature and Arts was designed to address were that who the literature and arts should serve and how to popularize and improve them. The primary question to popularize was the form. When the artists made propaganda to the masses via a variety of forms of arts, there was a requirement that people would love to see them and were able to understand them, which then needed them to learn from traditions and the folk arts. Therefore, The Satiated Life Picture was created by my father. The issue of form is a very important form

HAO XIANG:

HAO XIANG:

HAO XIANG:

WU SHIXIN:

WU SHIXIN:

WU SHIXIN:


possessed by all kind of literature and arts. The popular art and popular literature were advocated after “Movement on May 4th”, which was a movement about new culture movement. But these concepts only addressed the issue about presenting and describing the masses, not the issues how to make the masses like to see them and how to understand them. How many people really understand the novels written by Lu Xun? Xianglin Sao (A figure in Lu Xun’s novel)was not as popular as white-haired girl. It was Zhao Shuli who solved this problem and appealed to all. His novel Xiao Erhei’s Marriage made the people in liberated areas and Kuomintang-controlled areas know him. The comic strip of this novel was published in Hong Kong, which showed its big influence. The masses loved this kind of forms that were good at narrating and singing. No any work could be popular to such a high level. It was not an easy thing to be widely accepted by the people.

The woodcuts in Yan’an liberated area assimilated a great number of elements of forms from Chinese New Year paintings, Gate-god pictures, portrait bricks and paper-cutting for the needs of propaganda and fighting, I noticed that paper-cutting had a big influence on Mr. Li Qun. The prints of Li Qun and Gu Yuan show the sym-metric and balanced aesthetic style possessed by traditional folk arts. So except of paper-cutting, what other kind of arts was he influenced by?

It must be batik, which affected him later. Dense Forest and Strong Sheep was created after he learned the batik. This work was created when my father worked in Ningxia for the work of “Four Spiritualization Movements”. My father created some works when he worked for “Four Spiritualization Movements”in Ningxia. Except the repre-sentative work of Dense Forest and Strong Sheep, there was another popular work, Spring Night, which Hou Yimin praised that it looked like oil paintings.

We are also concerned about what Li Qun did for art education. Could you talk about his thoughts and meth-ods about art teaching?

He held prints training classes and taught the students how to produce works first and then he would help them with their problems. It meant that the students started with creation rather than learning theory first and then fo-cusing on creation. After all, there was time limit for training classes. It was short and usually they were able to hold art exhibition after trained for a couple of months. Previously the students were taught how to draw still life, plaster statues or human portraits. For example, you sit there, and I draw a picture for you. But my father did not do that way. He thought that creation activity was based on life scenes and life details, so what he advocated was to begin with creation to draw the scenes of their own work and their own life as well as something that they were familiar with. After the students finished, he would help to revise their manuscripts and tell them what to do and what not to do. This teaching method was effective because students could understand them, remember them and master them fast. After one training course, they were able to hold art exhibitions, which made students very confident. When he worked on “Four Spiritualization Movements” in Ningxia, the training classes held by him were the most famous, which cultivated many excellent students and produced many works. Some of them became famous artists later, such as Han Huimin and Zhao Ningan.

What you talked just now was about the question debated in National Hangzhou Arts College by that genera-tion of artists such as Yan Han, which was that “taking art as life” or “take life as art”. Although he might not clarify this question as clearly as you did, he talked about the same thing in essence.

After leaving Yan’an, he got very clear about this question. He has strong sense of responsibility and the sense of mission, just the same as Yan Han. He risked his life to cross enemy’s blockade to buy drawing materials. They worked together with the 8th Routine Army’s headquarter when they were in the base area. There was nothing in Taihang Mountain, so they went to Xi’an to buy them, for which they had to cross enemy-occupied area. So they risked their lives just for the purpose of buying some ink, painting paper and painting tools, which really meant to prepare to sacrifice themselves for art. We often say to dedicate our lives to art, but this is different with what my father did. The primary reason is that they did that for different art.

My father had one habit with respect to drawing, which was that he would ask for opinions of children in our family. He respected other people’s opinions very much. Take the works of Spring Night you talked about just now for example, my father asked me, “What does this picture express?” I replied, “On meeting!” My father was very happy, because what he wanted to express was the lively scene on a meeting. Although you cannot see a person on the picture, the bright orange light and so many bikes in the yard reflects the scene on a meeting.

He had another characteristic that was whoever came to consult him he would never refuse. I remember after

WU SHIXIN:

WU SHIXIN:

WU SHIXIN:

HAO XIANG:

HAO XIANG:

HAO HONG:

JIN YEQIAN:


our family was driven away to village, there was a farmer came to our home to ask for instructions carrying a bag of rice from far away. My father received him warmly and asked him to stay for meal, and then gave him specific instruction patiently by telling him what book to read and what pictures to appreciate. Besides, he told him to focus on copy and draw more still life.

How many phases do you think shall Li Qun’s art history be divided? As you mentioned just now, his style changed a lot after Yan’an Forum on Literature and Arts, so what were the changes in his style after the estab-lishment of New China? Would you please talk about it generally from your perspective?

My father’s works show changes all the time in his whole art history. He had the desire and pursuit to make changes. In other words, He did not want to create the same works, instead he wanted to be innovative. Artists would keep on making new progress as long as they often deny themselves. It is hard to achieve new accomplish-ments if they think their works are very excellent. Yan Han’s works shows great changes since 1980s, which was very praiseworthy given that he was elder already. Li Keran said, “The most valuable thing is the courage”. Do you have such courage to deny yourself and make new exploration? My father did not have such courage, but still you can see his changes obviously, especially during 1930s－1980s. I think it could be divided four phases based on his changes in art. First one was the period before he went to Yan’an, the second one was the period after he arrived at Yan’an, the third one was the period after he returned to Beijing, and the period after Culture Revolution was the fourth period. He made changes over time instead of huge changes suddenly. He was cautious to make these changes. So experts would recognize that they are Li Qun’ s works after seeing them. Generally speaking, that is it. I need to think about it further if you want to know the specific style for each period of his art history.

After 1980s, he created a lot of works. Actually, there was a problem bothering him for a long time, which was that he had no time to focus on creation. Li Qun was always engaged in administrative work after New China was established. Sometimes he was a leader, sometimes he worked for publications so he needed to read articles and write articles every day. During that time, he was the executive editor for Art while holding exhibitions, reviewing artworks and having meeting all the time, so he had no time to focus on production. There were many artists who experienced the same as my father, such as Jiang Feng, Hu Yichuan, Lai Shaoqi and Li Shaoyan et al. But I think there were also many works produced during the period between the establishment of New China and Culture Revolution, which was produced by making use of every bit of time.

I think he became open after Culture Revolution. The pictures of his works make people feel relaxed and free. The most representative work was In the Woods which was engraved by using big knife tool without blade at one stroke. There are other popular works after Culture Revolution, such as Summer Wind and Spring Comes to Dong-ting Lake. The original name of Spring Comes to Dongting Lake was “Breeze brings spring to the southern bank of the Yangtze River with green grass covering the ground”. My father discussed with me later on this name. I said, “Is it appropriate to use such as long verse as the name of the work?” Then he changed it. But he did want to express this main idea.

With respect his education for you, what were you impressed most by and what do you think was the most pre-cious?

I think my father was very open. He did not obey with feudal traditions. When I was a child, many kids loved coming to my home and playing with us together freely without following many feudal rules. I felt very happy and very free. My husband is a foreigner, but my father accepted him. He agreed with free love and letting me choose my own life.

As for marriage, he allowed me to marry whoever I love and choose my own life. He said that marriage was my own business and the ancient feudal marriage had caused many love tragedies, such as the stories depicted in the books such as A Dream in Red Mansion and Romance in Western Chamber, so he would not intervene with my marriage in order to avoid tragedy. Besides, as for our work, he thought there was dignity for all work. I think the precious spirit he taught us was “not enter through the back door”, meaning that we should rely on ourselves. He said, “I was the son of a landlord and I betrayed my family to go outside for my career, so you should rely on your-selves too.” Our family is very democratic, very open and free.

Except prints, Li Qun was good at literature too. Would you share with me your opinions on the relationship between prints and literature?

It was hard to associate prints with literature. When did he start to be interested in literature? My father told me that it was from the time when he put into prison. He calmed down when he was in prison. That was true.

HAO XIANG:

HAO HONG:

WU SHIXIN:

WU SHIXIN:

WU SHIXIN:

HAO XIANG:


Because he could not draw pictures and work on prints creation. The only thing that he could do was reading and the most importantly thing was that he finished reading of Bible (The New and Old Testaments). In his words, only when he was in jail, he could finish reading of Bible, because he had no patience to read it usually. Why read Bible? He thought He had to read it as an artist, because the world famous pictures were almost based on the stories and figures from Bible as well as Greek mythology for the period from middle ages to Renaissance. Except Bible, my father also read A Dream in Red Mansion and Ancient World History, especially novels written by Lu Xun, which made him fall in love with literature. My father said, “I worship two persons most in my life, one was Lu Xun, and the other one was Chairman Mao Zedong.”

Commentary on the Artworks相关艺术评论


力群的木刻都是通过曹白寄给鲁迅先生的，并得到先生的指导和鼓励。

曹白于1936年3月开始和鲁迅先生通信，先生在5月4日写给曹白的信中说：

关于力群的消息，使我很高兴。他的木刻，是很生动的，但关于形体，时有失败处，这是

对于人体的研究，还欠功夫的缘故。

曹白是力群的同学、好友，他们曾一同为“木铃木刻研究会”事而在杭州被捕入狱。出

狱后力群去了太原，曹白在上海新亚中学任教，他们时常通信。当1936年红军东渡打到太原

附近时，太原城内掀起白色恐怖，大杀共产党人。因曹白去信告知鲁迅先生力群无殃，所以

有“关于力群的消息，使我很高兴”的说法。看来鲁迅先生对力群的木刻颇为了解，所以这

里有中肯的评论。

当曹白把力群的三幅木刻寄给鲁迅先生时，先生于当年8月2日给曹白的回信中说：

郝先生的三幅木刻，我以为《采叶》最好，我也见他投给《中国的一日》，要印出来

的。《三个......》初看很好，但有一避重就轻之处，是三个人的脸面都不明白。

这里所谓的《三个……》系指《三个受难的青年》，而《中国的一日》乃是当年苏联伟大

作家高尔基号召写“世界的一日”，中国作家茅盾响应他的号召，决定1936年5月21日为“中

国的一日”。力群根据当日在太原郊外所见，刻了一幅木刻《采叶》应征。描绘春天到来，

穷苦人家以树叶充饥，度过春荒。没想到竟为鲁迅先生所称赞，这对力群是多么大的鼓励！

当8月初曹白把力群新刻的《鲁迅像》寄给先生时，先生于8月7日回信说：

木刻开会，可惜我不能参观了。我对于现在中国木刻界的现状，颇不能乐观。李桦诸君，

是能刻的，但自己们形成了一种型，陷在那里面。罗清桢细致，也颇自负，但我看他的构图

有时出于拼凑，人物也很少生动的。郝君给我刻像，谢谢，他没有这些弊病，但他从展览会

的作品上，我以为最好不受影响。

这里所说的“木刻开会”系指当年在法租界八仙桥青年会举行的“第二回全国木刻流动

展览会”，但鲁迅先生还是于10月8日带病去参观了。据曹白说，先生看了画展还很满意，遗

憾的是力群当时外出给“世界语协会”写标语去了，未曾见到鲁迅先生，成为他终生的憾事。

鲁迅先生对力群木刻的指导与鼓励

33 力群 | 相关艺术评论 Commentary on the Artworks

力群同志是30年代开始艺术创作生活的，他是和中国革命的新木刻一同成长起来的木刻

画家。

1941年春天，我到延安不久，在8月中旬举行的四位木刻画家—力群、刘岘、焦心河、

古元的展览会期间，我曾写了一篇评价的文章《第一日》，其中关于力群同志的木刻，我

曾说：

他的作品留给人以一种富于装饰美的印象。

这次他的出品很多，而且大部分都是新作。这许多新作很明显的是作者探求新的道路的一

些可贵的努力。它们截然地表明了和他的旧作之间的差异，这种差异不只是表现手法的差异，

也是创作意欲上的差异，这些差异使他的新作成了艺术创作路程上的一个主要的迈进。

《昨日的教堂》（即《延安鲁艺校景》）是这些作品里面最值得赞许的一幅。这幅作品的表

现手法很生动，它的生动在于作品里所流露的高原的树木与天空之间的清朗的空气相调协，

以致使我们不得不为这位艺术家所再现的景象所魅惑。

《打窑工人像》和《饮》是相接近的两幅，它们的刀法，它们的画面上所呈现的作者对于

素描画的努力，都达到比较完善的水平；虽然《饮》在技巧上比《打窑工人像》要纯熟些，

但在构图上我还是更喜欢后者。

《女像》和《女孩像》都有不同的长处，前者的刀法对于作者是非常突然的变换，这或许

是作者新的尝试，这作品的画面有一种像石刻似的均整与单纯的美；而《女孩像》的表现手

法和它所流露的素描的成功是可贵的，那北方女孩的正面的脸颊，鼻子与眼睛、嘴，都得到

了最经济而又恰当的表现......

从1941年到现在，时隔39年之久，力群同志在北京北海公园的植物园又举行他的版画展

览会，这是值得欣喜的事。

这次他展出了包括各个时期的作品共有96件。这些作品除在1941年的那次展出过的26件

之外，全是新作。

在这漫长的39年，相当多的时间处于各种政治运动中。由此可以看到力群同志是相当勤

奋的。

这次所展出的作品，题材更多样了，接触的生活面也更宽了，在形式上也更多地吸取了

我国民族和民间美术传统的表现方法，已逐渐地形成了简洁、明快、富有抒情色彩的风格。

而这也正是我在多年前所赞赏的他的艺术中的装饰美。

各种艺术，由于它们所采取的材料与工具的不同，决定了它们不同的性能，发挥不同的

作用。

作为版画艺术，这儿先说木刻画，它以木板为材料，以雕刻刀为工具，它们容易表现比

较明快、对照比较强烈的题材。不能对版画提出像油画所追求的效果。即使是大幅的套色木

刻，也不能（至少是不宜）去追求油画的史诗般的题材。

过于繁复的题材，需要过多的属于纯粹工艺的技术。纯粹工艺的技术虽然是完成艺术所

需要的，但它并不就是艺术；作为艺术，即使材料和工具如何不同，它们都有一个共同的要

求：既真实而又有美感。

艺术里的真实，不是对客观世界的简单的复写和模仿，而是艺术家的主观世界和客观世

界的契合。

力群同志选择了不少抒情诗式的题材，在作品中力求达到单纯与明快，看了他的这些作

木板上的抒情诗艾青


品，像读一首首抒情的小诗，给人以清新的感觉。例如《百合花》《瓜叶菊》《山葡萄》《石

竹花》《生地花》都带来山野的芳香。

其他如《黎明》《长江风景》《鹿园》《清泉》《林间》《春风》等也是抒情味很浓的

风景画。

当然，他也致力于刻画社会生活的题材，新的农村生活的变革，日常劳动的场面。然

而，这些都不是他的艺术的特点。我们曾发现有不少人喜欢追求这一类题材，而且也有比较

成功的收获。

千万不要以为我是在鼓励我们的艺术家闪避现实生活的题材，也不要以为艺术家—木

刻艺术家只能刻画身边琐小的事物。

每个艺术家要有意识地根据自己的爱好与技巧上所已经掌握的能力去发挥自己的才能。

每个艺术家都必须具有“自己的”特长。有人善于谱写进行曲，有人善于谱写抒情歌

曲。不能让女高音去唱男低音所唱的歌。

多年来的经验证明，力群擅长表现单纯、朴素、明快—具有浓郁的装饰味和抒情诗式

的题材。

1980年5月16日

（原载于1980年6月9日《人民日报》）


20世纪30年代我国早期的木刻活动家，到现在仍然一直坚持创作的已寥寥可数，力群同

志便是其中的一位。我和他相识是1938年在武汉，当时我们同在郭老领导的第三厅美术科工

作。我曾亲眼看见他怎样制作《抗战》《这也是战士的生活》等作品，他在木刻上那样浑厚

朴实的艺术风格，正和他本人一样给我留下了深刻的印象。

后来我在重庆负责中国木刻研究会的工作，在1942年曾经由《新华日报》的同志转到我

手中一大批延安的木刻作品，其中古元、彦涵和力群三位同志的作品，使我和在重庆的许多

同志都感到惊异。它不仅显示了解放区革命木刻的新成就，而且也标志了我国新兴木刻的新

水平。力群的《延安鲁艺校景》《听报告》《帮助抗属锄草》《饮》《伐木》《削萝卜》

等一系列作品，在1942年“第一届双十全国木刻展览会”上，吸引了广大观众和艺术界的

注意。这些作品说明力群在艺术发展上已进入一个新的阶段，表现手法越来越多样化，版画

艺术语言越来越丰富多彩。作者善于吸取外国版画各家之所长，为自己所要表现的不同题材

和主题思想服务，而且善于把一般绘画的素描关系转化为版画的语言，保持了木刻艺术的特

点。《延安鲁艺校景》对于光影的巧妙处理，黑白部位的妥善安排以及刀法的熟练运用，我

认为都堪称完整之作。《饮》画面上人物的肌肉解剖和明暗色调的变化，都有细致生动的刻

画；人物虽然是侧面，却表现了陕北农民的显著特征。我们不仅看到他那敦厚笃实的面容，

而且还看到他经过风霜和烈日晒过的黝黑的皮肤。还有《听报告》里那个抱着孩子在喂奶、

一面听着报告一面在做笔记的女干部，认识她的人一眼看去便知道是作者的爱人。这些作品

经受了时间的考验，直到40年后的今天，使我们看起来仍然感到十分亲切，在艺术上仍然具

有高度的欣赏价值。

在抗日战争结束后，我又得到力群同志的新作如《帮助抗属修理纺车》《丰衣足食图》

等，看到他在艺术风格上的明显变化。他更多地吸取了民间木版年画、剪纸、窗花的特点，

并加以创造性的发挥，使这些作品变得更加单纯、朴实、简洁、明确，更接近于广大工农兵

的欣赏习惯和审美趣味。这显然是作者在1942年经过延安文艺整风后、深入生活向民间艺术

学习所获得的成果。

鲁迅在生前曾经指出，向自己的传统艺术学习和向外国的优秀艺术学习，是发展我国新

兴木刻的羽翼。我认为力群同志在这些方面都做过很大的努力，并从自己创作实践上体现了

可喜的成绩。

从新中国成立以来，力群同志在繁忙的行政事务工作中，仍然坚持木刻创作，产生了一

系列表现人民生活与描写大自然风光的作品。在50年代，力群同志回到他过去曾经为之艰苦

战斗过的地方太行山一带体验生活，他对太行山特别有感情，他见到过去革命先烈们用鲜血

洒过的土地，在今天已生长出丰硕的果实，艺术家面对着遍山红似锦的新鲜景象，情不自禁

地创作出像《太行山风景》那样优美动人的画幅。这幅作品是以丰富的色彩和刀法的生动活

泼著称。在同一个时期，作者还创作了像《黎明》《北京雪景》那样清新、幽雅而富有抒情

诗意的作品。还有一幅为人们所称道的静物木刻《瓜叶菊》，在表现手法上简洁有力，用刀

挥洒自如。力群同志还力求从粗豪奔放的风格中去追求画面的装饰感。在一般情况下，绘画

的装饰风总是易于和严谨精细的风格取得协调，正如中国画中的工笔重彩比起水墨写意画来

更富有装饰感一样。可是民间的剪纸、窗花，却是在简朴、有力的图像上出现很好的装饰效

果。力群的带有装饰风的木刻，我想正是从民间美术那里汲取营养而发展起来的，他的《百

合花》《紫露草》《帘外歌声》《林茂羊肥》《清泉》《林间》等，我认为是属于这一类型

的好作品。

60年代初期，力群同志曾去西北农村工作、生活了一年多。在那里，他一面辅导当地的

写在力群版画展览会场上王琦


青年版画作者，一面又勤奋地进行创作，在一年中共创作了12幅木刻，打破他历年创作的最

高产量。这些作品表现了西北农村在度过三年灾难时期后的新面貌，作者以抒情的画面歌颂

了当地人民在生产斗争中的劳动热情，如《耧声响遍黄河岸》《浪稻季节》《秋曲》等和以

写景为主的《溪边》《春到山区》《春夜》等作品同样引人入胜。

“文化大革命”后，“四人帮”的文化专制主义并没有使老一代版画家气馁，力群同志已

年逾花甲，可是仍然以旺盛的精力继续握起刻刀从事创作。从1972年到1980年的一部分作品

中，可以看出艺术家愈到老年，他的作品也愈入化境。他不断在表现形式上进行新的探索，

他反对艺术上的墨守成规和老一套作风，鼓励青年版画家要大胆创新，要为版画的民族化、

现代化而努力奋斗，而力群同志在近年来的创作实践中，也经常向自己提出这样的课题。不

久前在黄山召开中国版画家协会成立大会时，力群还同许多年轻人一道完成了攀登天都峰顶

的壮举。我祝愿他在今后的创作上，以同样的勇气和毅力不断攀登新的艺术高峰，为我国的

新兴版画艺术事业贡献更大的力量。

（原载于《美术》1980年第9期）


翻开《力群版画选集》，欣赏按年序排列的作品，我们看到随着时代的发展，作品的内

容和形式也在不断地变化。左翼美术运动时期的作品，我们看到了鲁迅先生提倡创作木刻的

召唤力及中国新兴版画在摇篮时期的面貌；抗战时期的作品，则使我们看到了这战斗的艺术

在成长中为祖国的生存在呐喊、在呼号。力群初到延安的作品，可以说是中国新兴版画的一

个跃进。在新的革命生活的鼓舞下，在“鲁艺”（全称“鲁迅艺术文学院”）师生无言的创

作竞赛中，促使他的作品在主题的揭示和技巧的熟练上都达到了一个新的水平。然而这些作

品在艺术形式上却都还没有摆脱外来版画的影响。

但延安文艺座谈会之后，他的木刻却有了深刻的变化。从《丰衣足食图》可以明显地看

出，木刻的外来影响消失了。由于作者建立了群众观点，明确了如何为工农兵服务的途径，

从此经过不断的创作实践、探索，追求着中国版画自己的艺术道路和创立鲜明的个人风格的

目标。直到新中国成立后，他创作的《瓜叶菊》《黎明》《饮马》等作品的诞生，我们认为

力群的以上追求才得以最后实现。再看这之后近半个世纪里他创作的许多诗一般的木刻，令

人感到力群的创作道路越走越宽阔，而中国作风与中国气派已和他的个人风格融化为一个不

可分割的艺术整体了。

回顾与中国新兴版画同步的力群木刻艺术的历程，使人们感到他正是经历了中国近现代

史这个特殊的历史阶段的。他在青年时代面对着内战纷繁、天灾兵祸、列强蹂躏、抗战救亡

等残酷严峻的现实，假如一个人对社会有一定的良心和责任心的话，谁都可能自觉地选择战

士的人生道路，自觉地投身于为民族的生存和改造旧中国的战斗行列中，这几乎是一代热血

青年、一代爱国的艺术家的必然选择，时代的要求把战士和艺术家的身份往往是合二为一到

难以分清的地步。所以说，我们研究力群的艺术道路及其艺术风格的产生，就必须联系到历

史的背景以及因此而产生的时代风格。其次，如果我们从木刻艺术溯源观察，当看到中国古

代复制木刻在世界上的流布，后来又以创作木刻的面貌从西方回归，经过鲁迅先生的倡导和

介绍以及老一辈版画家们学习、吸收、消化，从而才创造了真正的中国作风的新兴木刻艺术

时，就会感到这是一段多么不寻常的历程啊！我们不由想到去年有幸应邀出席了在荷兰马斯

特里赫特举行的一次环球国际版画艺术节，所举办的版画展览是由80多个国家2000位艺术家

的3500幅版画作品组成。中国版画家的80余幅作品以其独特的中国风格明显地区别于这些国

家的版画，使我们深深地感觉到我国的版画要屹立于世界艺术之林，树立民族特点、民族风

格是多么的重要啊！而面对当前国际文化交流频繁的现实，我们又如何进一步向外国美术学

习和借鉴呢？在艺术创作中，如何坚持“以我为主”？这都是每一个从事美术创作的人应该

共同关心的问题。通过研究力群在美术史上的位置以及他的艺术道路，分析力群木刻的中国

气派与中国作风的个人风格的形成，明辨这些中国木刻艺术开拓者的轨迹，将会使我们得到

很多启示和教益。

众所周知，中国新兴版画正如鲁迅先生所说：“创作木刻的绍介，始于朝花社。”在1929

年以《艺苑朝花》为名出版的画集中就有两本《近代木刻选集》，这在当时无异于是在中国

画坛上播下了创作木刻的种子，很快便在上海、杭州、北京、广州等地引起了反响，一些进

步艺术青年开始了木刻创作。力群在 1931 年考入当时的国立杭州艺专之后，经历了“九一

八”的炮声，“一·二八”的淞沪抗战，于1933年又因搞革命木刻艺术而蒙受铁窗之苦，和进

步的“木铃木刻研究会”的解体，这一切都迫使他不能丢掉木刻这一艺术武器，要为揭露黑

暗、战取光明而创作。如《病》《生路》《三个受难的青年》《拾垃圾的孩子们》《采叶》

《抵抗》等就是他坐牢前后的作品。而这些木刻也正是那个时代的真实写照。他在《木刻技

法经验谈》一文中谈这一时期的作品：“在左翼时期，也就是我初学木刻的时期，那时候我们

中国作风与中国气派—论力群版画的艺术风格韩惠民余静


在美术学校里自学木刻，既无老师传授，又无先辈指导，也没有木刻技法一类的书籍以资参

考。‘一八艺社’从事木刻的同志，也不过比我们早学两年，在技法上也没有成套的经验，

那么怎样得到木刻技法上的一些起码的知识呢？主要是从鲁迅先生介绍的一些外国木刻中求

得。”他又说：“总的说来，左翼时期，我的木刻是童年时代，是向各种名家学习的时期，学

习过梅菲尔德、麦绥莱勒、珂勒惠支、法服尔斯基等名家的各种技法。像一个初学迈步的儿

童需要有人扶持一样，这些学习使我在木刻技法上打下了一定的基础，初步理解了创作木刻

的特点，掌握了木刻黑白的运用和它特有的表现方法。”正如当时叶圣陶先生所说：“在木刻

艺术刚进来的时候，我国的一些作品摆脱不了模仿……学习任何艺术，总得经过模仿。重要

的是始于模仿而不终于模仿，模仿只是创作的准备。”力群这一阶段的木刻正是通过模仿、学

习的阶段，随着不断的创作实践，他的作品在造型、黑白、表达主题的处理上都日趋成熟，

构思更为严谨，刀法准确熟练，注意到了木刻的装饰美。如《收获》《抗战》《这也是战士的

生活》《人民在暴风雨中》等。这些作品运用光影关系表现物体，以类似排刀的形式刻出灰

色调子，除去内容的不同，艺术手法却仍然未能脱出对外来木刻技法的依赖，虽然追求着木

刻技术的完美，以表达自己的爱国热情，但对于中国作风和中国气派的追求，作者还没有明

确的认识。为了便于理解这个阶段力群木刻的发展状况，我们有必要了解当时文学艺术所处

的时代背景。

追溯五四新文化运动，出现了旨在拯救与改造中国旧文学的革命过程，文学改革者们一

方面在探首域外，另一方面却又不免执其一端，忽视了对具有五千年文明历史的民族文化的

继承，以致使我们看到从“五四”以来至20世纪30年代虽然一批杰出的现代文艺家在创作上

和理论上为中国新文艺的建立和发展做出了重大贡献，但中国新文艺的方向，尤其是新文艺

的民族化问题，不仅未能深刻彻底地解决，甚至表现出严重的欧化倾向（除了鲁迅）。直到

1938年毛泽东在《中国共产党在民族战争中的地位》一文中提出了“把国际主义的内容和民

族形式”紧密结合起来，建立“新鲜活泼的、为中国老百姓所喜闻乐见的中国作风和中国气

派”的论述后，这才对于新文艺的民族化，恰如一声春雷似的把许多人从民族虚无主义的迷

梦中惊醒。从1939年初延安文艺界首先对民族形式的问题展开了讨论，同时在各个抗日根据

地和个别国统区，不少的文艺家也纷纷撰文参加“民族形式”问题的讨论。延安“鲁艺”当

时的直接领导人周扬指出：“必须把学习和研究旧形式当作认识中国、表现中国的工作之一个

重要部分，把吸收旧形式中的优良成果当作新文艺的现实主义的一个必要源泉。”应该“把

民族的民间的旧有艺术形式中的优良成分吸收到新文艺中来，给新文艺以清新刚健的营养，

使新文艺更加民族化、大众化”。延安“鲁艺”在研讨如何创造“新鲜活泼的、为中国老百

姓所喜闻乐见的中国作风和中国气派”的新文化方面走在了当时中国文艺界的最前列。但延

安“鲁艺”的木刻工作者作为一个艺术新方向而向民族、民间绘画形式学习，以求为工农兵

所喜闻乐见而下决心改变作品的洋化格调，却是在毛泽东《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话》发

表之后。

但是，1937年，当力群还是在抗日时期的国统区时，他在到处奔波又十分艰辛的抗日救

亡工作中除创作了《抗战》《这也是战士的生活》《人民在暴风雨中》等木刻作品外，还刻

了《敌机去后》《受难的同胞》《为战士赶寒衣》等木刻。单从内容来说，在当时的画坛已

属难能可贵的了。限于当时的环境，抗日救亡的需要，以及他自己的认识水平，他在艺术上

更高追求的困难是不言而喻的。但在他从事木刻创作之后的近十年里，对外来木刻的研究，

以及鲁迅先生的教诲与影响，和他认真创作的态度，特别是当时的现实对于木刻这一富有战

斗性艺术形式的需要，都为他日后坚定地走上现实主义创作道路打下了坚实的基础。

1940年春，力群到延安后，任教于鲁迅艺术文学院美术系，全新的革命环境，相对安定

的生活，以及处在一个艺术群体之中，都为他的木刻创作的提高提供了较好的条件，使他的

木刻艺术造诣更为深厚了。如《帮助抗属锄草》《饮》《伐木》《延安鲁艺校景》等，都是

他以火一般的热情、精益求精的态度，创作了这些有着强烈时代气息与生活气息的作品。如

《帮助抗属锄草》《饮》，前者把锄草人的神态、动作都融合在劳动的节奏中，从四个不同


的人物姿态，四把锄头的变化，尤其是其中一人弯腰扶苗的细节，深刻地揭示了主题：他们

非常认真地帮助抗属锄草。而那幅《饮》，选取了喝水这个劳动中的典型细节着力刻画，表

现了农民饮水时的甘甜，而又显示了在酷暑中劳动的艰辛。通过这一形象，作者歌颂了劳动

人民的健美的形体和陕北农民特有的朴实有力、勤劳勇敢的本质。作者以非常投入的心态，

仔细推敲了画面人物的神态、比例、结构、光影变化、黑白关系，以细密、流畅的三角刀刻

出景物的远近关系、形体、质感，以及喝水农民面部结构变化，手臂肌肉的力量……对此，

但凡有过创作甘苦的人，都会感觉到这些精到之处凝结着顽强的艺术劳动的汗水和心血。这

些作品较之国统区时的木刻明显有了很大的进步，这进步不仅仅表现在技法上的精练，而且

还体现着作者世界观改造的变化，对生活的深入和熟悉。由于作者对劳动的亲身体会，对劳

动人民产生了深厚的感情，从而促使他能在延安的生活中敏锐地发现劳动的美。这些感情因

素的变化，不但保持了他过去作品中重于教育功能的长处，而且大大提高了作品的欣赏和审

美功能，透露了作者的美学追求，表现出他在考虑着如何更完美地刻画劳动人民形象。在这

里世界观的转变，促使力群创作思想为之提高，这对他木刻的中国作风的形成，是一个不可

忽视的基因。尽管上述作品仍然没有脱离“洋味”，但是不难看出作者在思想感情表达上和

在技法上为追求明快与简洁所做的努力。

力群谈这一时期的创作时说：“我们当年从事木刻创作时，学习的是苏联版画，对法服

尔斯基派的木刻非常喜欢，因而我的作品的风格就无意中有了苏联作品的风味，后来到了延

安‘鲁艺’，开始考虑到应脱离苏联影响创造自己的风格，这才从《饮》走向《伐木》，又

走向《延安鲁艺校景》。”他在另一篇文章中也说：“在《讲话》之前，我已经有了创造自

己独特风格的要求，因此就努力研究新的刻法，力求从苏联木刻技术的影响下解放出来。”

接着他谈到了经过各种技法的尝试后仍然没有达到预想的效果时又说：“而最根本的原因是

没有完全脱出外国的影响，因此就不能使我满意。”在这些话里表明了力群要摆脱木刻的外

来影响，曾做过追求创造自己的艺术风格的努力。但他虽然又经过了新的刀法的研究，却最

终还是流露出“不能使我满意”的苦闷。可见作者在《讲话》发表之前已经为此进行了顽强

的冲刺，但是他的木刻作品仍然没有脱出外来技法的模式。这正是值得我们研究和思考的关

键，这就更加明确告诉我们：从学习外来的技法，表现中国的题材，到创造出中国作风与中

国气派的作品，不仅仅是新的技法的探索和认真的创作态度，而是有着更为重要的因素和步

骤。因此前面的这一切，只是力群创造中国作风与中国气派的木刻艺术风格的前奏。

1942年5月，力群参加了延安文艺座谈会，并聆听了毛泽东《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲

话》，之后又经过延安的整风运动。力群说他在运动中思想上的最大收获就是建立了群众观

点和劳动观点。因此在整风结束之后，他和“鲁艺”的木刻家们一同创作新年画。“从历代遗

留下来的木版插图中、民间木版年画中，从陕北流行的灶马、门神、皮影、剪纸中寻找创造

具有中国作风、中国气派的木刻作品的答案，终于体会出画面明快简洁、色彩鲜亮悦目、主

题鲜明突出才是符合中国人民欣赏习惯的中国美术作品的主要特色。”“这一系列的艺术实

践，不仅鼓舞了学习传统的风气，产生了许多直接运用民间形式的木刻作品，同时也促使木

刻创作迅速摆脱外来形式的影响，抛弃了中国观众所不习惯的光影关系与复杂的背景，接近

了简练明快的中国作风和中国气派，形成了代表着‘鲁艺’后期木刻风格上带有共同性的一

种基本特色。”鉴于此，力群以民间年画的形式刻出了《丰衣足食图》。这幅作品的出现，

在力群的木刻从外来影响到中国作风的过程中，是一次关键的转折、巨大的飞跃。

《丰衣足食图》吸收了民间艺术年画的特点，如饱满对称的构图、明朗红火的色彩、鲜

明突出的主题。在这里力群学习了民族民间艺术的精华，对于中国人民的审美习惯予以尊

重，从中国古老文化和民族民间艺术的深厚积淀中探寻中国作风和中国气派的体现，使他终

于第一次果断地摈弃了光影变化、细密的刀法、西画中的素描体面，从而出现了民间年画般

概括的线。这些空前的变化，终于使他把外来木刻的影响一扫而光！力群在总结这一时期的

创作时说：“因为我们学习了《讲话》之后，明确了艺术为工农兵和如何为法的问题，为了使

工农兵易于接受，除了要深入工农兵生活，熟悉他们的思想感情，正确塑造他们的形象外，


还必须在表现技法上有所改变，我们注意到应多向民间艺术学习，多向民族艺术传统学习。

在木刻上多采取阳线的表现技法，在黑白处理上则力求不使画面有阴暗之感，在表现人物的

面部时不再采用明暗法，而是采取了中国民间年画的表现方法，在和农民群众的接触中，感

到色彩的图画比起单色木刻来更易为他们所接受，因而尝试套色木刻，这期间我刻了年画式

的《丰衣足食图》套色木刻，不论构图也好，表现技法也好，尽管还可能有缺点，但已经脱

出了欧洲木刻的影响，有了鲜明的中国气派。”他还说：“延安时期我的木刻技法是力求摆脱

欧化的影响，积极探索新的民族形式和个人的独特风格，我们在采取什么样的技法时，总应

想到人民的欣赏习惯以及他们的趣味和爱好，使自己的作品有中国作风和中国气派。”这些

话表明了《讲话》使力群从主观上明确了艺术为工农兵服务和如何为的根本问题。因此他在

艺术创作中，在探讨民族形式和个人独特风格时，“总应想到人民群众的欣赏习惯以及他们

的趣味和爱好”，为此，他重视从民族、民间艺术遗产中不断汲取营养，为群众的喜闻乐见而

考虑木刻技法的改变，以一个战士的姿态和行动服从于时代的需要而进行创作。从客观上来

看，基于当时广大民众的文化状况，文艺形式只有达到大众化，才能有利于宣传革命，宣传

抗日救亡，唤醒民众。这些需要，迫使既是战士又是艺术家的力群及其同道，不得不改变欧

化手法，从而研究、学习民族艺术。这既是时代的需要，而同时也是时代在促成艺术的新风

格的产生。由于这些内外因果关系，才是力群和他的同道们创造自己具有中国作风和中国气

派的木刻风格的关键因素，而他的木刻《丰衣足食图》的脱胎换骨的变化，也正是创造自己

具有中国作风和中国气派的个人艺术风格的新起点。

18世纪法国作家布丰曾说：“风格即如其人。”一个艺术家的风格的确能显示他的思想、

性格和素质。那么，在摆脱外来木刻影响之后，在创造中国作风的版画中，力群的哪一幅木

刻在新中国成立后是最具有他的风格的作品呢？它就是1957年创作的《饮马》。为什么这样

说呢？请看这幅作品，一位战士一手抚着黑马的鬃毛，一手拉着缰绳，看着正在饮水的高大

的白马。黑白映衬、主题分明，使我们联想到战斗的岁月里，这是在战斗的间隙或首长开会

的空间，小战士不失时机地饮马，为新的任务做好准备，宁静之中却寓意着战争时代的紧张

气息。这幅作品虽然不能算是代表作，但可以看到力群已经消化了民间艺术的营养，他曾经

学习过的民间剪纸、民间年画的痕迹已被木刻的黑白、刀味、木味所融化；所用的刀法，正

是力群多年追求后的创造。其浑厚、有力的圆口刀既准确又奔放，既果断又痛快，用刀精练

到屈指可数，而不失单纯，把形体、黑白与刀法的结合达到如油画家的笔触的效果，每刀下

去既是素描，又是造型，还是色彩，技巧中透露出的娴熟与热情，使观者为之感动。这些艺

术技巧的独特，正如力群倔强、果敢、坦诚、认真的性格一样。因此，使我们开始明确看到

了力群木刻的个人独有的风格，那就是简洁、明快，充满抒情诗一般的情调和富有力之美的

痛快淋漓的运刀！他已经开始形成了具有东方艺术魅力的中国作风。

在我们浏览力群这之后数十年的许多木刻作品时，始用于这幅木刻作品的技法常可在其

他作品中看到，如《社干会后》《春夜》《春到宁夏》《鹿园》《林间》《鱼乐图》等。所

以，我们以为研究力群木刻艺术的中国作风和中国气派的形成，依其创作时间，这幅画是不

容忽视的，它与创作《丰衣足食图》之间的距离，正是他达到具有鲜明个人风格、创造木刻

艺术的中国作风的苦修期，而《饮马》则成为他达到这一追求的一座新的里程碑。

1963年力群在《木刻技法经验谈》中说：“木刻技法的创新，除了多从民族艺术遗产中求

得启发，是很难出新的。我们的祖先为我们遗留下的美术遗产非常丰富，从民族遗产中得到

的启发创作出来的作品，总会有民族特色。贵在推陈出新，但不要生硬地照搬。外国版画我

也还学习，但总力求把它融化在自己的创作中，使它不至影响我的作品具有中国气派。”我

们不能不认为这也是力群在艺术创作中对于“古为今用”“洋为中用”的理解和实践，以及

吸收民族艺术遗产及外来艺术的态度。正如鲁迅先生指出，食用牛羊绝不能类乎牛羊一样，

正是这种严肃的创作态度、明确的创作目的、丰厚的创作经验，使他的木刻艺术追求着既有

中国气派，又不失木刻特点；既有个人独特风格，又有不断变幻多姿的中国风味。他的不断

创作、不断消化、不断深入生活，使他在半个多世纪里，以旺盛的创作热情，完成了许多杰


出的作品。

这里，就力群在向民族、民间艺术学习，探索追求具有中国气派的个人风格的实践作进

一步的分析。

力群在他写的《论刀法》一文中说：“我在阳刻、阴刻方面曾向齐白石的篆刻学习过，

也汲取过湖南印花布图案的表现方法，研究过吴昌硕所谓的‘屋漏痕’，我国民间艺术如汉

代画像石、民间剪纸，也都有供我们创造新刀法借鉴的价值。”就是这样，力群一面非常重

视向民族、民间艺术学习，揣摩民族艺术美之所在以及人民的审美习惯；同时他也不放松对

外来艺术的继续研究。1957年及1958年，他先后两次到苏联，曾对俄罗斯巡回展览画派的

诸多作品及当代苏联美术进行了考察，出版了卓有见地的《苏联名画欣赏》。在他编辑《版

画》杂志时，介绍了许多苏联、欧洲及拉美的优秀木刻作品。对于这一方面的体会，力群以

下的这段话我觉得非常具体，他说：“我一开始学画就是学的西洋素描、写生等，因而误认为

能够掌握照相似的如实描写的写实本领是绘画的最高要求，从事木刻创作时还继承了这种思

想。由于后来艺术修养的不断加深、创作经验的不断丰富，以及对中国绘画的研究和对姐妹

艺术音乐和中国传统戏剧的观赏，中国古典诗词的理解，于是觉悟到，艺术的真实绝不等于

生活的真实，更不是对事物的如实描写……我想艺术与生活的不同，就在于艺术家加强主观

能动性与创造性，使艺术比生活和客观事物更美、更高、更具有个人的风格。”由此可见，

中国民族、民间艺术对他的木刻风格的形成所起到的巨大作用。我们现在可以从具体事例、

他的作品中来剖析这一现象。

力群曾多次在讲学中谈到他在中国古典戏剧中受益匪浅，有着从不喜欢到非常喜欢的变

化过程，他从古典戏剧的欣赏中，悟到了艺术的真实与生活的真实的不同。他说：“《苏三起

解》就是我们山西的事，设想实际生活中，从洪洞县到太原有很远的路，把苏三押往太原，

沿途风沙扑面、日晒雨淋，还要带上刑具一路步行，苏三当时的形象蓬头垢面的是理所当然

的。然而，在《苏三起解》一戏中，苏三面容姣美，连刑枷都做成装饰美的鱼形，突出了

一个心地善良、被人欺凌，从而使人同情的美女形象。还有戏剧中的走路，近于在鼓乐节奏

中的舞蹈了。如果把戏剧中的走路放在日常生活中，别人一定会认为此人不是神经病便是疯

子。”他还说：“古典戏剧能经久流传，除了它富有教益的内容，就是它还有无数戏剧家的

艺术创造。因为戏剧不同于绘画，它是二度创作，每个演员都是在理解剧本的基础上，再对

所演的角色，通过艺术表演进行形象、性格的塑造，经过历代戏剧艺术家的千锤百炼，古典

戏剧才得以流传不息，才会有百看不厌的艺术魅力。中国古典戏剧是我们中华民族的艺术瑰

宝，它重于表演，而简于道具，表演上要求达到精到、干练、准确、优美，道具极力简化，

依靠表演的深化，有时道具可以一物多用。京剧《三岔口》就是京剧艺术的典范，人物活动

在黑暗中，但舞台上的灯光如昼。这些对我们从事版画创作的人都有很大的启发，使我们明

白中国的传统戏剧是真正进行了艺术加工的艺术品，而我们的版画创作就要有出色的艺术加

工才能成为好的版画艺术。”

力群得益于中国古典戏剧，不仅仅在他写的《论艺术加工》一文中详有论述，而且也运

用到他的创作实践中去了。如他的版画《春夜》的景物处理上：一棵萌芽的大梨树、两张

耧、一个广播喇叭、一片错落有致的自行车，中间还有一辆女车，此外还有灯光、月牙儿，

虽是夜色，又不是黑糊的一片……这些出现在画面上的景物，都围绕着主题，着力表现“春

夜”，既概括，又典型，还有内涵。

力群在向中国画的研究学习中，曾说：“自古以来不论唐宋的人物画，还是明清的山水花

鸟画，不论敦煌、永乐宫的宗教壁画，还是云冈、麦积山的雕刻……都有一个不如实描写，

而着重从生活和自然中取其精华去其糟粕，力求传神的优良传统。”他还写了《论齐白石》，

编辑了《齐白石研究》一书，从而在这不断地对中国画的研究中，使他的版画创作从中汲取

了丰富的滋养。中国画贵在意境，意境是中国画的灵魂。而力群在版画创作中也是最讲求意

境的。所以艾青赞誉力群的版画是“木板上的抒情诗”，是不无道理的。他在20世纪50年代

创作的《黎明》，就是一首意境深沉、优美动人的绝唱，这幅作品把我们引入那静谧清凉的


山谷黎明的时分，一勾下弦弯月挂在高空，在一棵高大而又造型优美的柿树下，画中人骑着

毛驴走来，我们仿佛听到了驴蹄的有节奏的叩响，真是“鸟鸣山更幽”的意趣啊！那毛驴的嘶

鸣，主人回望的神态，使我们顿时想到画面之外的事……如果把著名的作曲家格罗菲在《大峡

谷组曲》中表现宁静山谷的旋律、毛驴的嘶鸣、驴蹄的叩击和山谷的回声的《羊肠小道》播放

出来，就不能不使人感到万分的惊奇，在偌大的世界上，在浩如烟海的艺术海洋中，居然有

两位艺术师匠的作品如此的巧合和异曲同工，视觉艺术与听觉艺术所表现的意境居然如此的

类似！如果把《羊肠小道》作为《黎明》的配音，岂不是有声有色吗？而这正是两位艺术师

匠在艺术作品里追求意境完美所取得的成果，这也是力群从中国古典诗词中的所得、溶解到

他的作品中去的表现。力群在这方面突出的作品还很多，如《雪后》《帘外歌声》《清泉》

《夏风》《春夜》《耧声响遍黄河岸》《新城在望》等都是令人回味无穷的优美作品。王国

维说“一切景语皆情语”，欣赏力群的这些版画正有这种感受。他的木刻在意境上的追求，

能使我们欣赏其画、深感其情、如闻其声、如入其境。我们如果把《社干会后》与《春夜》

比较来看，一个是表现了人，使观者联想到开会后的未来；一个是只表现景，让观者意会室

内开会的热烈场面及其内容。再如《帘外歌声》不仅构图形式取于中国花鸟画的章法，而其

景、物、情、声也深得中国画意境的神妙；还有《秋曲》更是把中国花鸟画的手法在套色版

画中作了可贵的尝试，取得了令人难忘的效果，开阔了套色版画的题材。还有《林间》的宁

静、飘逸，《夏风》的韵律之美，《清泉》表现了生命的无穷活力，《北京雪景》描绘了冬景

的隽秀，都使人感到画有尽而意无穷，艺术美的空间是多么的博大啊！我们能在无限宽阔的

美的意念中自由地遨游，得到美的享受，这都源于中国传统绘画的艺术魅力。

如果按有的说法把绘画分为具象和抽象的两类，而中国工笔画的对立面则是抽象与具象

之间的“写意”，力群在认识到有的西画过分强调如实描写的弊端之后，在不断的创作实践

中，在“同如实描写做斗争”的过程里，他的版画艺术则更多地吸收了中国画写意的长处。

如《春到宁夏》《秋曲》《山葡萄》《长江风景》《鱼乐图》《天山之夏》等作品。在套色

木刻里，可以看出他更广泛地吸收了中国画的优点，还有古代壁画、民间艺术的色彩手段，

这些都与他学习西画的造型功底融汇起来，使他更果断地追求着中国作风的创作道路。

中国的写意画在色彩上不同于西画之处，除了固有色的运用及对光影关系的摈弃之外，

那就是它的色彩富有装饰性。因为它不是自然色彩的照搬，而往往是改变了自然色相，不受

光源色及环境色的影响，而独立地发挥其色彩作用。力群在版画中的设色，基于这个观念，

根据主题和木刻经济色版的要求，进行木刻套色的严格选择，他也不排除西画调子的特点，

追求着色彩的对比与和谐。他也用“同如实描写做斗争”的信条，对光作用下的色彩自然变

化，就如同中国画一样是坚决舍弃的。如美丽动人的《百合花》《少女像》《女社员》《荷

花晚风满园香》等作品就是这样。

我们欣赏力群的版画，理解到他对于版画中黑的认识，就如同国画家不把墨当黑来看待

一样，而是把墨作为造型的工具。力群的版画是把黑作为版画概括的一个重要语言，就是

说，像国画那样，黑既可以代表任何色彩，也可以不代表任何色彩，它是为表现主题的一

种形式需要而存在的。由于木刻画的材料、用色、技法的局限，它本来就不长于如实描写，

所以，在套色木刻中，依主题感情的需要，并为了经济色版，用了不如实描写的色彩，有利

于突出版画艺术的特色，加强创造性，从而完美地表达作品的主题。力群的木刻艺术充分地

表现出他能以艺术技巧为手段，达到准确地把色彩变化为艺术感情而感染观众的目的。所以

说力群的优秀木刻中，其色彩是充满感情的色彩。当然，形与色是相互依存的，从感到画的

“有色”，到画的“无色”，这是从颜色到有情绪的运用色彩，是从物质转入感情领域的深

化过程，而一幅十分完美的作品，我们不会首先感到色的刺激，就如同看好的演员表演，会

使我们忘记了他是做戏一样。力群的许多套色木刻如《黎明》《北京雪景》《雪后》《春到

洞庭湖》《北国早春》等，其版画套色的使用，由于感情色彩与主题的融合，都达到了“无

色”的境界，《北京雪景》的寂静、高洁，《北国早春》的宁静中却萌动着勃勃生机，《天山

之夏》的瑰丽、神奇，《春到洞庭湖》的明媚、可爱……在有的作品中，他把水印与油印巧


妙地结合起来，颇有版画印制中由中西合璧而产生的完美的艺术效果。在这些作品里，他使

色彩的情绪成为作品的内涵，得到了充分的体现。这些都告诉我们力群在汲取民族艺术遗产

中的精华，融贯中西艺术的修养，使他创造的版画艺术的中国气派与个人风格都达到了更高

的境界。

力群曾说：“我认为我国的传统艺术，不论民间美术及文人画都极丰富，是我们取之不尽

用之不竭的继承对象，也是木刻发展和创作的极好借鉴。”因此，他从中国民族、民间艺术中

汲取了丰富的营养而成为他中期和后期的版画风格以及中国作风的形成的主要因素之一。

我们从以上曾提到过的力群的黑白与套色的多种版画作品看，感到都是具有力群独特风

格的版画。虽然这些作品中的形象刻画、刀法运用、黑白处理、色彩及艺术形式都有着中国

民族、民间艺术的灵魂，但它又绝不同于民间年画、汉代画像石、金石、剪纸，而是什么都

不能替代的力群版画。这都源于他善于吸收、勤于思考、勇于实践，永不满足于已经取得的

成果的治学态度。所以他在《漫谈艺术风格》一文中说：“多年的创作经验使我们得出如下结

论：向外国学习不应失掉中国气派，向古人学习不应失掉时代精神，向姐妹艺术学习不应失

掉自己的特点，向同行学习不应失掉自己的个性。我想这都是在创作中应该遵循的道路。”

他有着如此明确、坚定的信念，不断地对中外艺术学习与研究，勤奋地创作实践，因此，他

对于绘画的本质有着深刻的理解，当他以一个艺术家的职能从事创作时，他的诗一般的木刻

标示出他的追求、理想的美学品格，创造出属于时代、属于人类也属于自己的艺术。他准确

地把握着艺术手段从属于创作目的的原则，达到了随心所欲不为之所役的境界。

前文已说过，在力群的木刻里也有中国民间剪纸的营养。他在研究、学习民间剪纸时曾

与一位民间的妇女剪纸能手石桂英合作过一幅《织布》的新剪纸佳作，1961年还编辑了《宁

夏民间剪纸》，在他的诸多作品中，明显的受剪纸影响而创作的有《林茂羊肥》《鱼乐图》

《春到洞庭湖》等。《林茂羊肥》这幅木刻是在宁夏创作的，画中的牧童、杨树林、黑的山

羊、白的绵羊以及灌木和野花、小鸟与蝴蝶，都安排得恰到好处，黑白处理既不失去剪纸平

面构成的特点，而又在大块黑里以木刻的阴刻刻出断断续续的线条而丰富了画面的变化，加

强了表现力，给人以情调幽静、安适的美感。而这线条的“断”又是来源于湖南印花布的启

示。作者把自己对大自然的深爱、对童年生活的美好回忆、对美的理想的追求，通过这幅童

话般的木刻传达给观众。这幅作品最为动人的是黑白映衬的关系处理得再地道不过了，树叶

用阴刻的断线，灌木用阴刻的点，还有山羊身上的阴刻小三角，树叶和野花的断刀……这些

精妙的处理，不仅使这些点、线都在闪烁着黑白木刻独有的炫目的光彩，也保留了剪纸艺术

的特色和湖南印花布的趣味，而且又成为整个画面“灰”面的安排，留出的不多的白色空间

和白绵羊是画面白的部分。这幅作品与其说是一首牧童短笛般的抒情诗，不如说是一首有着

交响效果的轻音乐。艺术贵在创造，在《林茂羊肥》中，无论是其艺术形式，还是造型都是

力群经过长期的艺术探索、实践创造的，像羊的眼睛造型既有羊眼的特点（瞳仁是横的）又

不失版画的刀味和剪纸的风采。最难能可贵的是，我们在力群的这幅作品中和他的诸多作品

一样，看不到别人作品的影子，这就是版画名家的风范，这也正是使力群木刻的独特风格在

广大观众心目中能留下难忘印象的原因。在《鱼乐图》中，我们不难看出他吸收了北方剪

纸的概括、生动、厚重、朴实的特点，只用了两个套色，但已经把水的感觉、鱼的游动刻画

得栩栩如生了。每当看着这幅作品时，就感觉到鱼在轻轻地游动，安静之中有动的内涵，最

妙不可言的是鱼的造型既有北方剪纸的粗犷、概括而用刀可数，又有画像石的深沉、厚重之

感。感到作者对鱼游的方向或稍上，或偏下，或藏或露，或前或后，以及水、色点都是匠心

推敲过的，看到鱼游得那么轻盈、惬意，让我们的心情也随之轻松、欢快起来。这幅画在完

成时，笔者正好在力群家里，看到后，就感到一种艺术力量的震撼，使笔者想到青年时代在

西安碑林所看到的一尊北魏的石刻观音，那粗糙的石料却塑造出感觉细腻的手臂来。《春到

洞庭湖》，笔者认为是力群20世纪80年代最优秀的作品之一，可以说是一幅木刻的神品，无

论从主题的表达、作品的洗练、剪纸与木刻的结合、刀法的流畅、黑与白的巧妙运用、造型

与刀法的融合，以及用两个套版概括到再也不能概括的色彩，都如无瑕之玉。这幅作品把我


们带到一个多么美丽的春天的境界啊！透过初春的柳烟可以看到春水的倒影，湖面的轻帆，

自由自在的水牛在饮水、在吃草……咫尺之画却使人视野远阔，仿佛沐浴着洞庭湖和煦的春

风。且不说力群精美的刀法，把古老剪纸的装饰美的精华都融在这幅作品的春意里，使我们

得到可以久久回味的乐趣，单是那柳树既要有柳烟的透明和特征，还要有春风和律动之美，

又不失木刻的力度，树干既要厚重，但又不能失去春天的欢快，妙就妙在那树干上阴刻的小

点，既是树干上的纹理，又表现了春天的活力。如果您读过力群写的《从“哎哟哟”谈起》

那篇文章，就感到在这幅《春到洞庭湖》的作品里，他对于歌曲中的“哎哟哟”的理解，已

经在他的木刻中运用到炉火纯青的地步，也可以看到力群在作品中处理每个物象、每个细

节，既要合乎生活的规律，又要有艺术的适度，使人感到似乎添之多余、减之不当、改之乏

味、删之减色的艺术的整体适度美。作为木刻版画，非同纸笔，有误刀出现，非得重新刻

过，否则在欣赏中就会出现令人扼腕的遗憾。然而，力群的木刻是十分耐人寻味的，充满了

力之美与阳刚之气，它不是以矫饰做作的“漂亮”悦人，而是以隽永艺术美的内涵引起观者

的共鸣，使人欣赏品味久久难忘。他那许多精美绝伦的作品，谁又知道往往是一丝不苟地重

刻过几遍呢？力群创作《春夜》时，刻完印好已经很完美了，但他突然想到“半边天”的重

要性，感到应该加一辆女式自行车，为此他又重刻主版，直到自己完全满意为止。

上面谈到的三幅有着浓郁的民间剪纸风味的力群木刻，对于中国民间艺术，特别是中国

民间剪纸的吸收和运用，可以说在中国版画史上也是不可多得的范作。它可以使我们又一次

清楚地看到力群版画风格与中国作风、中国气派的形成与祖国丰富的民族、民间艺术遗产有

着不可分离的血肉关系。

力群经过20世纪60年代的创作高峰期，直到“文革”的浩劫期间，使他和许多中国的艺

术家一样，失去了十多年的创作良机，但是他在“四人帮”垮台之后，却又掀起一个新的创

作高潮，像《天山之夏》《长江风景》《北国早春》《林间》《清泉》等许多精美的作品都

是这个高潮中的产物。《林间》曾得到国内外观众的一致钟爱；《清泉》以“中国新兴版画

50年展”在法国展出时，被法国选为中国版画展览的招贴画和画册的封面，这都是力群以鲜

明的个人风格和中国气派、中国作风为当代中国版画赢得的光荣。如今已高龄八十有余的力

群先生，仍在著书作画。半个多世纪里作为一个战士，他有着值得缅怀的历史；作为一个艺

术家，他献给祖国和人民许多优秀的作品，在中国美术史上有着他灿烂的篇章；而他不平凡

的艺术轨迹，将留给我们值得学习与深思的启示。

1994年10月于银川


“力群美术馆”中的版画是怎么创作的力群

首先让我向灵石县委县政府和企业家张国兴先生给我在王家大院建立了“力群美术馆”

表示衷心的感谢！有了这个美术馆，就使我的美术作品能够和广大人民群众见面，让他们欣赏。

这里陈列的木刻画，是我从1933年开始，到2003年，于七十年当中创作出来的。这七十

年来，因为刻木刻坐过国民党的监狱，因为刻木刻争取过下放农村，因为刻木刻熬日熬夜不

辞辛苦，因为刻木刻要学习艺术理论，要研究各种艺术，包括戏剧和音乐。

七十年来，我能取得版画成绩应该感谢两个人，其一是伟大作家鲁迅先生，因为他提倡

新兴木刻，并出版了不少外国版画画册，供学习者参考。所以1933年我们在国立杭州艺专成

立了“木铃木刻研究会”开始走上现实主义的艺术道路。后来当我刻出一些木刻作品时，曾

得到先生的指导与鼓励。我现在在版画上成名了，饮水思源，吃水不忘淘井人，所以我应感

谢鲁迅先生。

其二是毛泽东同志，他在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话，使我的木刻作品抛弃了“欧化风”，

从而有了中国作风、中国气派，为工农兵喜闻乐见。

自从我从事新兴木刻艺术以来就是紧跟时代的，关心祖国、关心人民，痛恨日本帝国主

义……这可以从我当时的木刻作品中看得出来。

这里陈列的木刻《病》是我1933年参加“木铃木刻研究会”后刻的最初的一幅木刻。想

表现一个老工人病了，他的老伴看护他。但因没有这方面的生活，所以就全凭空想来刻画。

在技法上是参考鲁迅先生于1930年出版的德国木刻家的作品《梅斐尔德木刻士敏土之图》而

刻的。原作没有保存，但因当时我们手印的《木铃木刻展》和机印的《木铃木刻集》曾寄给

鲁迅先生，这幅《病》就是从《鲁迅收藏中国现代木刻选集》中复制的。

1933年10月10日，因“木铃”事，国民党把曹白、叶洛和我逮捕，坐了一年多时间的监

狱，于1935年出狱后，我在上海创作了木刻画《三个受难的青年》以纪念三人的被捕。这幅

木刻是多少受些麦绥莱勒作品的影响的。

1935年我从上海回到太原，在杜任之同志创办的艺术通讯社工作。经常在街上看到穷苦

人家的孩子在拾垃圾，因而创作了木刻《拾垃圾的孩子们》表示对他们的关怀与同情。

日寇于“九一八”占领东北后，还继续向关内节节侵占，而国民党却步步退让。曾有吉

鸿昌将军进行抵抗，却遭国民党的破坏失败了，我刻了木刻《抵抗》既是对吉鸿昌的怀念，

也是对未来的希望。

1936年，当世界文豪高尔基向全球作家号召写“世界的一日”时，中国作家茅盾响应他

的号召，决定当年5月21日为“中国的一日”，向全国征稿。我根据当日在太原郊外所见刻了

木刻《采叶》应征。描绘春天到来，穷苦人家以树叶充饥，度过春荒。当我后来托曹白把

《采叶》和其他两幅木刻寄给鲁迅先生时，回信说：“郝先生的三幅木刻，我以为《采叶》最

好，我也见他投给《中国的一日》，要印出来的……”我听到这好消息和赞扬非常高兴。

《鸟》是1936年为上海出版的《文学丛报》杂志刻的封面装饰木刻画。后来在延安艾青

看到时说：“并不比法国木刻家的作品差。”

1936年暑假期间，太原艺术通讯社停办后，我再次到上海，住在曹白当教员的新亚中

学，在这里刻了木刻《鲁迅像》和《日寇武装走私》等木刻。由曹白把《鲁迅像》寄给先

生，回信说：“我对于现在中国木刻界的现状，颇不能乐观。李桦诸君，是能刻的，但自己们

形成了一种型，陷在那里面。罗清桢细致，也颇自负，但我看他的构图有时出于拼凑，人物

也很少生动的。郝君给我刻像，谢谢，他没有这些弊病，但他从展览会的作品上，我以为最

好不受影响。”这真是对我的莫大的鼓舞和关怀。之后《鲁迅像》便发表于上海著名的《作

家》月刊上。后来被本人选入他们出版的《世界美术全集》内。


当我这次从太原到上海路经北平时，友人金肇野同志把我从北平送到天津海口，在天津

过桥时看到日本兵正扛着货物也在过桥。金肇野告诉我：“这就是武装走私！”是为了逃避中

国海关检查、逃避关税的。我在新亚中学根据印象刻成《日寇武装走私》。

1936年秋，我当时住在上海西郊季家库。10月19日早晨，我刚起床，还没有穿袜子、刷

牙，就看到一辆银灰色的汽车停在我们的门口，接着是一阵紧急的拍门声，同室的同志都受

惊了，以为来逮捕人。开门后，才看到来的是曹白和日本女士池田幸子，他们带来了不幸的

消息，说鲁迅先生于5点25分逝世，要我马上去画遗像。我急忙带上纸和木炭条跳上汽车一直

来到大陆新村鲁迅先生家里。一上楼就看到我们敬爱的导师静静地睡在床上，一床被子覆盖

着他安详的遗体。战斗了一生的中国精神界的主将和战士，现在是疲惫地长眠了。全屋笼罩

着悲哀，萧军伏在桌上痛哭。在场的还有周建人、胡风、黄源以及鲁迅先生的日本朋友鹿地

亘和内山完造。景宋先生含着眼泪接待客人。我含着眼泪用颤抖的手画了四幅鲁迅遗容的速

写。曹白也在画。到午饭时分了，我和曹白在鲁迅先生的图书室吃了午饭。下午送先生的遗

体到万国殡仪馆。此后我参加了守灵，并和广大群众一起唱着“哀悼鲁迅先生……”的挽歌

送葬。在送葬的行列前领先的有我们尊敬的宋庆龄、蔡元培、沈钧儒等先生。

我画的《鲁迅遗容》多少年过去了，也不知保存在何处，直到1977年我儿子郝明才在香

港偶然发现一本《鲁迅先生画集》，从中看到1936年我为先生画的遗容。他从香港把这幅画

寄给我，现在陈列在这里的就是这张画的复制品。

《收获》是根据我在上海西郊季家库农村画的速写创作的。在构图上曾受苏联木刻家冈察

罗夫《野民》插图的影响。

1937年，盼望了好久的抗战，终于在7月7日北平的卢沟桥和“八一三”的上海爆发了，

我多么高兴。因此在安庆刻了木刻《抗战》和《这也是战士的生活》，在武汉刻了《保卫祖

国》。虽然这大都是参考照片刻的，但也显示了我当时的心情：拥护抗战。

之后在陕西的宜川县当我任民族革命艺术院美术系主任时刻了《人民在暴风雨中》象征

那个时代。

以上的木刻都是在当时的国民党统治区刻的。

1940年当山西发生“新旧军事变”时，我从宜川到了延安，任延安鲁迅艺术文学院美术

系教员，开始创作歌颂边区人民生活的木刻作品。

最初刻了《听报告》是歌颂延安人的学习精神的。这现象在国民党统治区是永远也不会

看到的。当1995年我在澳洲墨尔本举行“力群版画回顾展”时，此画为堪培拉的澳大利亚国

立美术馆所收藏。

我们延安的同志们大都是住在土窑洞里，它的好处是除了冬暖夏凉，也不怕日本飞机来

轰炸，因为窑顶很高，炸不塌。我刻了木刻《打窑洞》既是对那些打窑工人的歌颂，也把它

作为一种永久的纪念。

帮助抗属锄草，在当时是一种政治任务。因为人家的儿子参加了八路军到前方打仗，家

里就缺少了劳动力，我们帮助他家锄草，就是要使前方的战士安心抗日没有后虑。我也参加

过这种劳动。画中戴草帽的老乡就是抗属。我刻了这幅《帮助抗属锄草》的木刻就是歌颂军

民的团结。

之后又刻了《饮》，是赞美劳动人民勤劳、朴素、健壮之美的。经过时间的考验，《饮》

已成为我在延安时期的一幅木刻代表作。蔡若虹同志在他写的《赤脚天堂》一书中评论我的

木刻时说：“作品中的《饮》特别令我倾倒。”1999年4月16日，《饮》为伦敦的英国博物馆

所收藏。

《伐木》是描写当时“鲁艺”的学生自己动手到劳山进行烧炭的生活的，我曾去劳山参

观他们的劳动，并画了速写。那里的森林是另一个世界，给我留下难忘的印象，归来创作了

《烧炭组画》。我很喜欢其中的《伐木》，因为这幅木刻生动地展示了同学们的战斗精神。

之后根据在桥儿沟画的速写创作了《休息》这幅木刻，是表现农民对小牛的爱的。又根

据我家的小保姆刻了《陕北女孩像》，当它在延安军人俱乐部展出后，诗人艾青在《解放日

报》上发表了名为《第一日》的评论文章，其中对《陕北女孩像》的评论说：“《女孩像》的

表现手法和它所流露的素描的成功是可贵的，那北方女孩的正面的脸颊，鼻子与眼睛、嘴，


都得到了最经济而又恰当的表现，只是衣服的部分好像有些不很调和的感觉。”

延安桥儿沟的教堂，原是西班牙天主教神父传教之地，红军进入陕北时神父逃走了。后

来教堂就变成了鲁迅艺术文学院的校址。当时门口有站岗的卫兵，人们一看就能看出教堂已

不是传教之所，而我在这里却经常听取马克思主义的文艺思想讲课。我把它刻成木刻《延安

鲁艺校景》，因为它也真是延安的一景。原名《昨日的教堂》，当它在延安军人俱乐部展出

时，诗人艾青在《解放日报》上评论说：“《昨日的教堂》是这些作品里面最值得赞许的一

幅，作品的表现手法是最生动的，而这种生动恰好和在这作品里所流露的高原的树木与天空

间晴朗的空气相调协，以致使我们不得不为这艺术家所再现了的景色所魅惑。”《延安鲁艺

校景》于1999年4月16日为伦敦的英国博物馆所收藏。

之后我又刻了《陕北老人像》《削萝卜》和《女像》等作品。《老人像》是根据我画的

素描稿刻成木刻的，《削萝卜》是根据在田里画的速写刻的，《女像》刻的是我的贤妻刘萍

杜。艾青评论它说：“《女像》的刀法对于作者是非常突然的变换，这或许是作者新的尝试，

这作品的画面有一种像石刻似的均整与单纯的美。”

下面的三个外国文学家、艺术家的像，是当时“鲁艺”的副院长周扬同志要我给他刻的。

其一是车尔尼雪夫斯基，他是19世纪俄国革命民主主义者、哲学家、文学评论家、作

家；其二是马雅可夫斯基，他是苏联的诗人，曾写长诗《列宁》歌颂革命领袖；其三是库尔

贝，他是法国19世纪现实主义画家，巴黎公社时期曾参加革命活动。

1942年5月毛泽东同志《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话》对我的木刻创作来说不啻是掀起

一场革命。这之前，因为我向外国的版画学习，作品有“欧化风”，延安老百姓说画的人物

是“阴阳脸”，所以不喜欢。我学习了《讲话》后，为了使作品为工农兵喜闻乐见，就下决

心抛弃了“欧化风”。

当时，整个“鲁艺”掀起了向民间艺术学习的热潮，因而戏剧部和音乐部产生了《兄妹

开荒》《白毛女》等新秧歌和新歌剧。美术部掀起向民间艺术学习的结果产生了新年画。我

的木刻《丰衣足食图》就是根据年画稿刻成的。我当时是想表现春节来临，陕北农民的家庭

丰衣足食，充满了幸福欢乐的气氛，以区别于当时国民党统治地区民不聊生的景象，从而歌

颂在共产党领导下边区是个好地方。

这之前，由于我对毛泽东同志的崇敬，刻了一幅《毛泽东同志像》，从而产生了一段故

事：当时文学部的教员周立波和陈荒煤看到这幅像都说好，劝我把像送给毛主席。我就到杨

家岭找毛主席，秘书说：“毛主席正午睡，他起来就要开会。”于是我就把木刻像交给他。他

说：“请你放心，我一定把像交给毛主席。”我想：毛主席这样忙，实在不敢为此而打扰他老

人家。

一两个月过去了，我把这件事忘得一干二净。一天早上我在教员居住区看到戏剧家张庚

同志，他说：“昨晚毛主席来礼堂看戏，问到你，我们怎么也找不到。”我说：“你胡说。”

“不骗你，毛主席坐下来，问我们：‘你们这里有位力群同志吗？他送我一幅木刻像，谢谢

他。’我们左右寻你，没寻到……”这我相信了。我当时不大爱看京戏，所以没有去，真遗

憾。但毛主席问到我，却使我感到无比荣幸。这件事迄今难忘。

而现在的这幅毛泽东木刻像，却是我在文艺座谈会之后又重新改刻过的，因为我嫌原来

那幅面部太黑，改刻后的作品就大为明快了。

1944年后，延安举行了劳模大会和文教大会。在大会期间并举行有关英雄人物生平和英

雄事迹的连环画展览作为配合。一到这种大会筹备期间，就动员“鲁艺”的师生为大会作

画。我曾两次参加这种工作。其中为文教英雄陶端予（杨家岭小学的女教员）画的连环画，

事后曾选取其中的一幅刻成黑白木刻《为群众修理纺车》，以歌颂她为人民服务的精神，并

将给模范教师刘宝堂画的连环画也刻成了连环木刻画。我选了其中的两幅陈列在这里，作为

对刘宝堂的纪念。

在“鲁艺”新秧歌剧创作和公演的影响下，“鲁艺”所在地桥儿沟的老乡们创作了新秧歌

剧《小姑贤》，我曾观看了他们的演出，颇感兴趣。事后该剧出版单行本时，求我作插图。


我给刻了五幅小木刻，也就是现在流传下来的《小姑贤》木刻插图。刻成后曾在桥儿沟街头

张贴的《桥儿沟壁报》上发表，受到了群众的热烈欢迎。这是我从事木刻艺术以来难得看到

的一次农民如此欢喜地欣赏我的木刻作品，感到了无比的幸福和鼓舞。自1933年“木铃木刻

研究会”成立时就标榜我们的版画艺术要为劳苦大众服务，但从来还没有看到过劳苦大众真

正欣赏我们的艺术，这算第一次，我怎能不高兴！

日本投降后，我从延安回到晋绥边区，于1946年到山西孝义县下乡，在东小井认识了剪

纸能手石桂英，她当时有三十来岁，已有三个儿女了。除了做一般家务外，她还日夜抽空纺

花织布。我和她熟了之后，就向她提出合作剪纸的问题—我画她剪。她同意后，我就照

着她织布的样子画了一张小图，全是轮廓线。交给她后，等第二天去看时，她已剪成了一个

红色的窗花，真是一个非常美丽的窗花。石桂英给织布的妇女身上不但配上了美的图案，而

且那图案多样而统一。例如裤上的“如意”，她是根据空间的不同而安排的，能使“如意”

多变而完整。其次是布机腿上方两侧也加上了图案，既美化了布机又和妇女身上的花纹有了

呼应。其结果是为整个剪纸增加了光彩。最使我惊异的是，我的原稿因透视之故，只画出妇

女的一条腿，即两脚都踏在布机上。待她剪时竟剪成两条腿都显现在画面上了（即一脚踏布

机，另一脚闲放在地上），这样一来，就使画面更美观了。我问她：“用一只脚踏也可以织

吗？”她说：“可以的。”此外她还给妇女头上剪了个发卡，加得真好。我真钦佩她的审美趣

味之高，赞赏她在剪纸艺术上的非凡才华。我得到这个新剪纸如获至宝。它既不失窗花的传

统，有美的透光，有浓厚的装饰性，而且又有新意。既是写实的而又有理想。这个剪纸真像

是我和她共同“生”的一个小宝贝。我们的合作是非常成功的。彼此都感到了创造的欢喜。

难怪她的小姑开玩笑说：“老郝和嫂嫂要是一对夫妻多好，一天到晚可以在一起剪花花了。”

“死丫头不要胡说！”嫂嫂笑着骂小姑，我也会心地笑了。

1949年以后，不知怎的《织布》剪纸竟和中国木刻一起载入东德出版的一本中国版画集

中。至今恐怕石桂英还不知道她的作品已飞到国外去了。

我之所以重视这个合作的作品，一来因为它本身是美的，是我到新解放区的一个纪念；

二来也因为这一合作实现了我在延安时候就已有过的设想；三来改变了我对农村妇女在艺术

才华和修养上的低估。发现了一个作为文盲的家庭妇女，她的手艺竟比我预想的高出一筹，

我多么高兴。

我从孝义县回到晋绥边区的兴县参加了公祭关向应同志的仪式。关向应同志是辽宁省大

连市人，老红军，曾任八路军120师政委、中共中央晋绥分局书记，1946年在延安病逝后，晋

绥边区人民公祭他，我根据参加公祭的印象刻了木刻《公祭关向应同志》作为纪念。

《送马》也是1948年创作的。当时贺龙司令员号召部队把编余马匹无偿赠送给贫苦军烈

属，帮助他们解决生产中的困难。为此我创作了这幅木刻。在晋绥《人民画报》上发表后，

苏光和牛文批评说：“你那位军烈属画得太衰老了，送给他马，他也不能上地耕种了。”我感

到他们批评得很对，因此于1948年参加土改工作归来后，又重刻了一次，把军烈属的形象画

的“老当益壮”，他们看了表示满意。这幅木刻已成为我在晋绥时代的代表作了，曾于1949年

全国文代大会期间参加了第一届全国艺术展览会，后又被选入上海晨光出版公司出版的《新中

国版画集》中。

1947年我参加了当时晋绥边区崞县的土改工作，一年后回到兴县创作了年画《选举图》，

其中的人物都是崞县土改中的群众。后来经过石印出版后发表于《天津日报》副刊，就听到

当时中央美术学院的女画家邓澍对此画的赞扬，认为生活气息很浓。当年腊月我曾带了一部

分年画《选举图》在家乡街头摆摊销售，目的是要看群众是否喜欢我的作品。结果所带的年画

都卖完了。我总算亲眼看到了农民对我的《选举图》的赞美，多么的高兴。

1949年以后，我在太原工作时刻了木刻《向李顺达应战订生产计划》发表于《人民日

报》，编者写了按语给予表扬。这是我从老区进太原后刻的第一幅木刻。李顺达当时是全国

农业劳动模范，曾在《人民日报》上发表谈话，向全国农民挑战。我的木刻是紧密配合了李

顺达的生产号召的。这幅画是根据我在灵石富家滩西山顶上一位劳模家画的开会时的速写而


创作的。

1951年夏，当我在太原工作时，参加了由杨秀峰同志领导的太行山老根据地访问团，访问

团还带了一个杂技团，访问了武乡、左权、麻田等地。当时参加访问团的还有山西日报社社长

史纪言同志。开大会时杨秀峰代表毛主席向群众讲话表示慰问，有时也要史纪言代表毛主席慰

问，有时也要我出场，这是我一生中唯一的一次代表毛主席讲话。事后我创作了年画《毛主席

的代表访问太行山老根据地人民》。画中描绘了一位首长在慰问大会上正给一位烈属戴纪念

章。当我把画稿拿给宣传部长陶鲁笳同志看时，他说：“你画的那位首长气派不够，只像个科

长，应该画成省委书记那样的大干部。”我认为他提的意见很好。后来经过观察琢磨，又进

行了修改，最后给他看时，他说：“这就像个大首长了。”但我自己最满意的还是画中的烈属

老农民。他令人感到忠厚、善良、淳朴。这幅年画在北京人民美术出版社出版后曾荣获文化

部于1952年第二次颁发的新年画创作奖。

自从1953年我被调到北京的人民美术出版社任副总编辑，1955年又调到中国美术家协

会任《美术》杂志副主编以来，整日坐办公室，难于离开编辑工作下乡深入群众生活从而创

作有关农民的木刻画了。但我又不甘心放弃木刻创作，于是就到花店里买了几盆我所喜爱的

花，于1954年刻了《百合花》，1955年刻了《瓜叶菊》，人们竟认为这是我这一时期的代表

作。后来得知《瓜叶菊》陈列在南斯拉夫博物馆。当晁楣同志评《百合花》时说：“体现了纯

洁高尚的情操。”我很满意。虽然当时已有“百花齐放、推陈出新”的文艺新方针，但还是

有人在报上批评：“作为一个共产党员画家，不表现工农兵而刻些花花草草。”可见当时刻几

幅静物木刻画也是有风险的。

1954年秋，经我再三要求，得到了人民美术出版社副社长邵宇的开恩，给予我一次下乡

的机会。我就同陪我一同去的人民美术出版社的两个画家到了山西太行山写生。我们从河北

的邯郸经过涉县来到山西的左权。我在涉县的清漳河岸为美丽的金秋景色所陶醉，于是画了

一幅富有秋色的水墨彩绘速写。后来回到北京刻成套色木刻《太行山风景》，于1957年被选

入“中国现代版画展览会”，在苏联的列宁格勒和莫斯科展出。

在左权我画了一株枝干有如龙蛇的老柿树，树叶尽落而红柿点点耀目。回北京后于1957

年创作成套色木刻《黎明》，只用了三个色版，在柿树的背景上加上了黎明时分的下弦月和

朦胧的远山及河流等远景。在前景上画了一个骑毛驴的早起劳动的农民，他手搭凉棚瞭望东

方曙光。两个驴背上都有笼筐，要上地收庄稼。叫驴突然吼叫起来，意味着它发现了前面的

草驴。我能画出这些情景全靠童年对农村生活的熟悉。黎明从黑夜向我们走来，像一年的春

天，像人生的童年，它给我们以朝气，给我们以希望，给我们以鼓舞，这就是我要表现的主

题。1957年《黎明》参加在苏联列宁格勒和莫斯科举行的“中国现代版画展览会”时被印成

明信片发行。后于1958年又参加在莫斯科举行的“社会主义国家造型艺术展览会”，现在《黎

明》为英国陈列馆所收藏。

1957年春，当我在《美术》杂志编辑部工作时，一个落雪天我去上班，上楼后在办公室

的窗外看到很美的雪景，于是就立即用水墨写生下来。画成后看到雪景的顶端太平了，于

是把附近的一个小亭移过来，又加了一个推自行车的人和扫雪的小孩，构成了我的木刻画

《北京雪景》。当1958年举行“莫斯科—北京版画家作品展览会”时，我以《北京雪景》等

木刻参加了展览会。在苏联的莫斯科展出时，苏联著名艺术家H.茹可夫在《真理报》上发表

了《良好的开端》一文。文中评论《北京雪景》时说：“艺术家力群在木刻中所表现的和暖的

中国的冬天，迷人地、童话般地印在人们的记忆中。在这种好像是非常平凡的风景画中，作

者善于表达对自己国家的生活和祖国的城市的深深的爱，这样的风景，我们认为是美好的艺

术作品，它永远使我们看了感到快乐。”《北京雪景》于1958年又参加了在莫斯科举行的“社

会主义国家造型艺术展览会”。

1957年我除了创作《黎明》和《北京雪景》还刻了赵树理小说《登记》插图和《饮马》

以及《生地花》等木刻。

《登记》插图的内容是：小飞蛾回来见闺女睡在自己的床上，就轻轻推了一把说：“艾


艾！醒醒！”艾艾没有醒，只翻了一个身，有一个明晃晃的小东西从她衣裳口袋里溜出来，

丁零一声掉在地下，小飞蛾端过灯来一看：“这闺女！几时把我的罗汉钱偷到手？”这个插图

曾给赵树理看过。他说小飞蛾的裤脚管应该扎起来，才像他们那地方的妇女。但我觉得那太

土气了，不好看。至今这个问题我也没有想通。

《饮马》表现在战争年代首长来开会，警卫员趁机牵上马去池边饮马的场面，从侧面描

写共产党的领导人物为祖国的解放事业而辛劳的情景。有的木刻家认为《饮马》表明我在黑

白木刻上已形成自己成熟的风格。

“生地花”是药材，但它又是我们家乡的野花，我童年时很喜欢采它玩，我把它刻成木

刻《生地花》就因为这个原因。

1958年刻了《学习》，1959年相继刻了《春游》《煤矿区风景》《帘外歌声》《石竹

花》《丰收》和《红旗歌谣》插图—《新媳妇走娘家》。

《春游》是为1959年第3期《版画》杂志刻的封面画。

《煤矿区风景》是我根据1954年从左权到阳泉煤矿区画的速写而刻成的木刻。这算我一

生中刻的唯一的一幅关于工人劳动的木刻作品。

1959年世界和平理事会发了一个文告，号召全世界的版画家以“给世界以和平”为题作

画，并说将在东德举行一个国际版画比赛会。我决定应召，开始酝酿表现中国人民和平生活

的一幅木刻画。为此，就到北海公园画了初放嫩叶的垂柳，之后又和萍杜及孩子们到颐和园

昆明湖划船画了速写，最后受中国花鸟画构图的启示，创作了黑白木刻《帘外歌声》。这幅

木刻参加了于1959年8月1日在东德莱比锡举行的国际版画比赛会。虽然没有在比赛中获奖，

但被选入在东德德累斯顿出版的一本《给世界以和平》的版画集中。版画集中还有西班牙大

画家毕加索画的伟大和平战士《约里奥·居里像》以及比利时著名版画家麦绥莱勒的木刻

《罗曼·罗兰像》，我的作品居然能和毕加索的绘画在同一画册中出现，这是我万万没有想

到的。《帘外歌声》在德国发表后，不久就被苏联一本艺术杂志所转载。后来在中国报刊上

看到有人写文章专谈美术作品的标题时，夸奖我的木刻《帘外歌声》标题好。《帘外歌声》

还参加了当年在北京举办的“第四届全国版画展”，受到观众的喜爱。

1959年还刻了一幅《石竹花》，石竹花是一种野花，开的时间长而多样，我很喜欢它，

所以刻成了套色木刻。

木刻《丰收》为《版画》杂志1959年第5期封面画，是根据1959年在汾阳杨家庄画的果实

累累的果树速写创作的。

《新媳妇走娘家》是我为郭沫若和周扬在“大跃进”期间合编的《红旗歌谣》作的插图。

其内容如下：

桃花开，

一片霞，

新娶的媳妇走娘家。

穿啥哩？

月白裤子花夹袄。

戴啥哩？

鬓角插朵白梨花。

谁送她？

哥送她。

谁见啦？

我见啦。

我还听见体己话。

哥问她：

“走娘家啥时才回家？”

新媳妇，头低下，


脸蛋红的像桃花。

你呀你，别牵挂，

今去明就回来啦！

一不耽误社里活，二不误俺学文化。

插图是一种根据文学作品的艺术再创造，我创作时，因为是黑白木刻，所以没有必要忠

实地描绘新媳妇身上的穿戴，而是重点描绘她由于怕羞“头低下”。因为是走娘家所以我在

描绘时增加一个花布包袱，让她挽在手臂里，又在哥的上衣口袋上插了一支自来水笔，让人

能联想到小两口都在学文化。画了一株小榆树，以示哥把她送到村外。

1959年夏，我高兴地于7月间回了山西汾阳，到峪道河水泉村下乡。在这里我看到山西

特有的建筑物和令人喜爱的河景，我画了速写。于1960年根据速写创作了套色木刻《社干会

后》和《田间归来》。前者曾发表于当年《人民日报》的版画选刊上。我在建筑物的下方画

了参加社干会的农村干部散会后正忙于回家，有一个干部在车后带着一个小猪以增加社干会

的气氛。《田间归来》则表现农民在太阳下劳动，晒了一天，归来看到清凉的河水，就痛快

地洗涮一身的汗。这是多么愉快的事呀！

1960年我还刻了套色木刻《女社员》，是根据早些年在家乡画的妇女头像创作的。1987

年一位加拿大的女画家佩基·考尔特和她丈夫斯坦到我家来访问，看我的版画，她喜欢这幅

《女社员》，就购买走了。

1961年，在北京万人下放农村整风整社的浪潮中，我带领中国文联的同志们，有十余人

下放宁夏吴忠市整风整社。为了了解社员的生活情况，我曾在枣园大队住了一段时间，经常

去黄河边散步，观看黄河边大雁的起飞和降落，也看到农民在播种。因而在回京度假期间创

作了水印套色木刻《耧声响遍黄河岸》，是以中国水墨画的韵味为其特色的。

《秋曲》是根据在宁夏泾源之行画的秋后的白桦树枝又配了两只八哥刻成的，当时为了

办版画训练班曾借来两只八哥鸟的标本供学员作画。我就把它们画在白桦树枝上。因为八哥

是善鸣的鸟，故此画名《秋曲》。

《春夜》是我下放宁夏整风整社后于1962年刻出的一幅最受好评的套色木刻画。当时我

们差不多每天夜里要开会，在这个会议室里开了一年多的会。事后我创作了《春夜》。原

来院里并没有梨树，创作时我从院外把它画在院里，否则画面太单调。我又在墙边画了两具

耧，能让人联想到会议所讨论的是关于春耕播种的事。下了一场薄雪，忽然天晴了，月亮悬

在天空。梨树已发芽，等待着春暖花开。院里摆了那么多自行车，意味着有那么多干部来开

会。这幅木刻已经刻好了，才发现画的都是男车，没有“半边天”。于是又重新刻了一次，

增加了一辆女车放在最显明的位置。这样才算最后刻成了《春夜》。当《春夜》在北京展出

时曾受到油画家常书鸿同志称赞，认为有油画效果。此画后来为中国美术馆所收藏。评论家

刘曦林在一次学术研讨会上提到《春夜》时说：“这张版画表现的是农村干部在开会，他不

画会议室的里边而画会议室外边，月光照在村舍上，春暖融融，这就是从侧面描述，它就非

常具有艺术味道，是一种反向思维。”我感到形成《春夜》美的意境的，离开天上的月亮将

不可思议。而这也是有生活感受的。我在公社居住期间，经常在初春的黄昏到公社院外的果

木园散步，当雨后天晴，清澈的夜空，明月出现在梨树梢头，其美的意境给我留下深刻的印

象。而这月亮终于又出现在《春夜》里。

宁夏是种稻不插秧的地方，只把稻谷洒在水田里就完事，谓之“浪稻”，说这是“广种

薄收”。届时就在田边搭棚，吃住都在那里。我画了速写刻成套色木刻《浪稻季节》。

为了寻找创作题材，我到宁夏各地进行旅行写生，一次路经同心，住在一户农家，第二

天清早起床，发现夜里下了一场大雪，于是我在雪后的太阳光中画了一幅满意的雪景，回到

银川后创作了套色木刻《雪后》，成为一幅很受群众欢迎的木刻风景画。在画中我画了蔚蓝

的天空有两只喜鹊向树间飞翔，在雪后的山路上画了隐约能看到的出动的人群，其中还有一

个骑毛驴的红衣妇女怀中抱着婴儿，近景有一条小溪，溪旁有一只觅食的喜鹊。我用粉红色


表现阳光照耀下的雪景，构成了暖色的调子，整个画面富有生气和一种清新之感。

《少女像》是根据版画训练班期间画的一个上海来宁夏支边的姑娘曹惠丽的素描像而创

作成水印套色木刻的。一来为了给版画训练班的学员示范，二来也是我一幅心爱的创作。

《宁夏之春》描写的是一个汉族老人和一个回族老人正在修耧，准备春耕播种，从前播

种时藏在耧缝里的谷物经此时的敲打全都落地了，因此在画角画了一只觅食的白公鸡在啄

食。它的出现既合情合理，也为画面构图所需要。背景画的是桃树，已经含苞待放，点明了

一个“春”字。我用一半是黑、一半是白的构图，为了使画面有变化。这时我使用黑白已经

很自由，任我安排。

《溪边》是根据1959年在山西汾阳峪道河下乡画的速写刻成的。峪道河有一股长年流动

的很清的泉水，河岸边芳草如茵，有夏日的幽静之感，我当时画了水草的速写，于1962年刻

成黑白木刻《溪边》。牛文看了很喜欢。其中的“香人人”草是我童年的朋友，所以有一种

亲切之感。我配了一只蜻蜓，增加了溪边的气氛。

从宁夏归来，一天我和萍杜及孩子们游颐和园，在后山上画了山葡萄的速写，回家后创

作了套色木刻《山葡萄》。1963年“力群·黄新波·杨纳维三人版画联展”在中国美术馆展

出，王朝闻看到它表示很感兴趣。

多年来，我在套色木刻的用色上很胆小，总是忠于风景和植物的自然色，但当我看了齐

白石画的中国花鸟画，敢于把荷花的绿叶画成墨色，而把水红的荷花画成西洋红时，得到

了启示，于是在创作《山葡萄》时，就把绿叶画成群青色，配以红色的山葡萄果实，安置在

黑色背景上就感到新颖而富有创造性，由于山葡萄枝叶间的大片黑色的背景觉得较空，我就

刻了些小点作为点缀，这种小点并不表现任何事物，仅仅是画面需要。后来我听到民歌中

的“唉哟哟”时，就把《山葡萄》画面上这些小点叫作“唉哟哟”了。而这也正是一种抽象

的东西，但我是反对美术上的抽象派的，因为它让人看了不知所云，既不能反映生活，又不

能揭示主题，然而我认为在写实的绘画创作中适当地采用抽象手法也还是可以的，正如“唉

哟哟”在民歌中。

《林茂羊肥》是1962年单凭想象创作的，创作时学习了民间剪纸，在黑羊身上刻了两排

剪纸惯用的小三角作为装饰，刻白桦树的枝叶和石竹花时采用了湖南印花布断线的手法，使

画面增加了装饰风味。我的经验是学习姊妹艺术绝不能照搬，只能吸收其点滴，使它融会为

自己作品的有机部分，否则就会变成“依傍和模仿”。《林茂羊肥》成为我下放宁夏创作中

的代表作之一。

1962年还根据在宁夏泾源画的民房创作了一幅套色木刻《春到山区》。我在房与房之间

画了一些正在开花的杏树，意味着春意很浓，前景描绘了农民正赶上牛去耕田。我想表现春

暖花开，山区忙于春耕生产，一派繁荣景象。

我根据在吴忠市画的速写创作了水印套色木刻《二月》。这是初春来临，社员们赶上牛

车忙于送肥。喜鹊在小河边飞翔，好像是欢迎春天的到来。

套色木刻《荷花晚风满园香》是根据1962年在北京万寿山谐趣园画的速写创作的。我很

喜欢谐趣园背后的松林，所以在画面上给予松林以较显著的地位。前景有白色的睡莲，可与

天空的白云相呼应。只用了两个色版，套出这幅风景画，我自己很喜欢。

《新苗》也是根据在宁夏泾源之行画的速写于1963年刻成套色木刻的。所谓“新苗”就

是新出土的冬小麦的幼苗。因为童年看惯了这种绿苗，对它颇有感情，所以刻成了套色木

刻。那些树都是在泾源画的。

木刻《抗旱浇麦》是根据1964年参加山东曲阜县的“四清”工作后创作的。所谓“四

清”就是清政治、清经济、清组织、清思想，也叫“社会主义教育运动”。我在曲阜工作一

年后，回到北京就参加了“华北区年画版画展览会”的筹备工作，走遍华北给画家们的年画

版画创作提修改意见。而我自己却没时间创作了。到了最后才根据在曲阜东焦沟画的速写匆

匆忙忙刻成了黑白木刻《抗旱浇麦》，参加了“华北区1966年年画版画展览”。今天看来这

幅木刻还是充分表现了农民群众十足的干劲的。


《夏》是1970年在“文化大革命”后期下放家乡植树造林期间创作的，描绘了女社员们

正在忙于为农作物喷洒农药灭虫害。这是一幅炎夏的农村风景画。我在小河边画了些正在开

放的紫色野花，增加了画面的美丽。

《挖水池》是根据几次去昔阳大寨得到的素材创作的。目的要表现“世上无难事只要肯

登攀”的大寨人的那种无畏的战斗精神。

1976年1月8日周总理病逝后，为了怀念总理，我于1979年刻了《周总理像》。

木刻《长江风景》是根据早些年画的速写于1979年刻成的，我喜欢长江岸上的那些建筑

物。此画于当年11月8日曾参加在中国美术馆举行的“第六届全国版画展览”。

1978年7月下旬，由于韩惠民从中斡旋，新疆伊犁地区邀请我去讲学，他们举办了一个版

画学习班待我去辅导。因此，我有机会游历北疆和南疆，画了很多版画的草图。根据伊犁的

生活感受创作了套色木刻《新城在望》。描绘两个维吾尔族姑娘正在人家的屋顶上测绘街道

地形，以示要改建新的城市。

《天山之夏》是根据我在新疆伊犁新源林场森林里画的速写回到太原后于1980年创作

的。创作这幅套色木刻时，我不愿在色彩上如实描写，而大胆采用了敦煌石窟藻井图案的色

调，敢于用群青蓝画灌木，用绿色画天空，使画面有了不平凡的色彩效果。画内有塔松林

立，点缀着清流瀑布，还画了两只小鹿在饮水，远处的森林中有白色的帐篷，是伐木工人居

住之所。通过这些情节，我想表现天山夏日森林茂密醉人、空气清新之美。

《清泉》是根据在新疆画的速写创作的，我对于泉水自幼感兴趣。原来想用唐代诗人王

维的诗句“清泉石上流”为题，后来为了简明改为《清泉》。过去总以为木刻画面多黑块为

西洋木刻之特点，因此有一个时期为了有民族风味，并适应中国人民的喜闻乐见，尽量使木

刻画面减少黑块，多用阳线。但当我想到中国的字帖和石碑图画拓片时，就觉悟到中国古代

的版画也并非全像《水浒》的木版画插图，也有在黑底上出现的阴线图画。因而我敢于用大

面积的黑来衬托流动的白色泉水，这又何尝不是中国作风呢？为了不使画面单调，我在泉

水旁边画了水草，而这也是自然本身的逻辑，水边必然有草。但这种草必须是能够“入画”

的，不是一般草都可画入图中。好在我的速写资料中就有当年在山西汾阳峪道河画的水草，

正好画在清泉之旁。这样就既丰富了画面又增强了意境感。定稿后，我拿到美协，请同志们

提意见，聂云挺同志看了说：“如果草被风吹动，就更好了。”我接受了他的这一宝贵建议，

就把草改成在微风中摆动的状态。《清泉》从头到尾一共画了九张稿子，也就是九易其稿。

刻成之后，深感是很有中国作风的一幅木刻。

受中国石碑拓片影响的当然不止我的《清泉》，杨纳维同志生前于1962年创作的《借来

南海风千片》也是受了石碑拓片影响的。从而使中国版画加强了多样性。当我的《清泉》于

当年的11月和《林间》《鹿园》等作品一同在广州文化公园参加“北京·广东·山西版画联

展”时，我的老同学、水彩画家王肇民看了就特别喜欢《清泉》，他认为比《林间》还好。

当1981年《清泉》参加了由法中友好协会于3月5日在格勒诺波尔市文化中心举行的“中国新

兴木刻50周年展览”而展出时，终于和法国人民见了面。这次展览，出版了一本“目录”而

同时也是一本画册，封面以五分之四的版面印了我的木刻《清泉》。并以《清泉》印成展览

会的海报在格勒诺波尔市到处张贴。我想：法国人之所以喜欢我的《清泉》主要是因为它的

风格最富有中国特色的缘故吧。

《春风》的感受来自太原南文化宫，当我在楼上展厅进行评选作品活动时，偶然发现窗

外的垂柳在冬风中依依摆动，很有画意，垂柳的姿态也很美，于是画了速写，由此而创作成

套色木刻《春风》。在创作时我不但把柳树移于汾河之滨，而且增加了很多嬉戏的麻雀，助

成了画面的欢乐情趣和生动景象。远处即西山，在房后有结了冰的白色的汾河隐约出现。天

空上衬托柳枝的已经是初春的行云了。所以我把这画命名为《春风》。

《鹿园》是根据在太原动物园画的鹿的速写而起稿的，但当时用铅笔画出构图后，就一

直搁起来。大概是因为创作这种题材的木刻当时的“气候”不成熟，不敢刻。后来动手创

作，是因为第四次全国文代大会后我的思想解放了，邓小平同志在祝词中所说的：“只要能


够使人们得到教育和启发，得到娱乐和美的享受，都应当在我们的文艺园地里占有自己的位

置。”给予我以支持和鼓舞，于是我从铅笔稿画成黑白的木刻稿后就于1980年大胆地刻成木

刻。装饰风很强，有透视但又并不强调。这是继《清泉》之后又一幅中国石碑拓片风的黑白

木刻画。1983年曾在丹麦参加“中国版画展览”。

《金鱼》的创作动机是想把我国仰韶文化的一只彩陶器搬进我的木刻作品中来。画中花

台上的一个花盆是根据山西万全荆村出土的一个彩陶画的。而小姑娘衣服上的图案则是根据

河南陕县西谢桥出土的彩陶上的图案画的。之所以要这样画，就因为我爱我们祖先的这些彩

陶艺术。我把它们搬进我的木刻作品中是一种尝试。而这幅木刻作品也是受石碑拓片影响的

创作之一。2004年我又把画中的花盆刻成藏书票，谓之《盆景》。

《林间》是我晚年创作的木刻作品中最受群众欢迎的一幅，画这幅画时我已69岁了。是

怎样得到感受而创作的呢？我自幼就喜欢松鼠，时常玩它。我们家乡叫“毛圪狸”，是一种

非常可爱的小动物。我晚年还把它养在笼子里。1978年我从新疆归来，路经麦积山时已是晚

秋了，还看到松鼠在落光了树叶的树上跑，这就引起我创作《林间》的动机。归来后画出了

草图，钉在墙上，我的小女儿看见后说：“爸爸，你画的小松鼠不可爱。”我想也许是画得

太写实了的缘故，于是就进行修改，对松鼠的尾巴加以夸张，一直改到小女儿说：“这回松鼠

画得可爱了。”这样我就一口气刻成《林间》。当版画家们在黄山开会时，有人看到我在观

摩会上展出的《林间》时说：“力群不老！”而我当时已69岁了。当1980年3月30日在太原工

人文化宫举行“纪念左翼文化运动50周年—力群版画展览”时，我趁机进行了一次投票测

验，结果《林间》得票最多，共得90票。1983年被法国国立图书馆所收藏。曾在坦桑尼亚、

加纳等六国展出。

当1980年8月在长春举办“力群·古元版画展览”时，我们被安排在一个高级的南湖宾

馆里，馆内面积很大，有一个出色的园林，每早起床来此散步，真是一种享受。我发现园里

有高大的榆树，枝叶下垂，富有抒情味，就画了速写，后来于1981年以此刻成一幅我很满意

的黑白木刻《夏风》，创作时增加了拴在树上的一只山羊。算我这次东北之行的重大收获之

一。这羊的出现就意味着榆树不是生长在山野，而是在田边。

1980年9月29日我和版画家杜鸿年同志行进在黑龙江省北方十八站至塔河一带的途中，在

呼玛河边画了一张速写，图景是沼泽地的红毛柳丛。回到太原后于1981年以此刻成套色木刻

《北国早春》，于1982年参加了法国巴黎的春季沙龙画展。这次东北之行所创的《夏风》和

《北国早春》，被美术家们认为是我20世纪80年代的代表作。

1981年2月，我受湖南版画家王琼同志的邀请，到长沙去讲学。有一天我们泛舟游了洞庭

湖，归来看到湖岸行将出芽的柳树和如茵的草地，使我画兴大作，到旅馆后立即动笔，创作

了《春到洞庭湖》的套色木刻初稿。我不满足柳树的如实描写，将尚未出芽的柳枝使其变形而

富有剪纸风味，绿色的草地上配以四头吃草的水牛。远景是洞庭湖，有两只风帆在湖上轻移，

以两色套版完成这幅木刻画。回太原后刻成了《春到洞庭湖》，竟成了我的又一代表作。

这次去湖南由画家陈白一同志陪我在长沙参观了动物园，我画了小熊猫的速写，在宾馆

的院里画了法国梧桐的疏枝，回到太原后创作了套色木刻《小熊猫》。我不喜欢大熊猫而喜

欢小熊猫，因为大熊猫笨头笨脑，而小熊猫灵动可爱。此画于1983年曾在丹麦参加“中国版

画展览”。我的童年在我家大门前的大槐树上，初春来临曾看到喜鹊衔枝衔草在树上筑巢准

备生儿育女。我根据童年的印象，于1981年创作成木刻《早春》。

“荞璐璐花”是我们家乡的叫法，不知道植物学上应叫什么？它是一种野花。在我写的

《我的乐园》一书中有如下的描写：“红艳艳的桃花也开了，桃园里的绿草中点缀着蓝色的猫

眼花和紫色的荞璐璐花，我和小姑娘们一面采摘一面唱着童谣：‘荞璐璐花，登登镲，好女嫁

给老鼠家。’”我于1982年根据在家乡画的速写，把它刻成黑白木刻《荞璐璐花》，在画风上

稍微有点现代派的味道。

马烽小说中的韩梅梅是个坚强的姑娘，完小毕业后，没有考上中学，于是就自愿担任了

社里的喂猪工作，从而受尽了父亲的辱骂和村人的冷眼。但她在吕萍老师的教导下，能忍辱


坚持而不动摇，终于做出了成绩被选为社里的模范。我的插图画是她正在喂猪。

马烽小说中的饲养员赵大叔是一个有趣的人，同时也是一个最有责任心的人。他之爱牲

畜有如爱自己的儿女，非常感人，我的插图画是他正在槽头喂牲口。

马烽小说中的赵满囤绰号叫“三年早知道”，是个思想落后的社员。当城关农业社的配

种手李二贵赶着那头巴克夏猪到太平庄去配种路经甄家庄时，赵满囤就把他团弄住，又是给

点烟，又是给烧水泡茶。趁出去抱柴火的工夫，就偷偷把人家的巴克夏公种猪赶到隔壁母猪

圈里进行交配，后来又装着出来小便，把巴克夏赶回原来的地方。我的插图描绘他正偷偷把

巴克夏公种猪赶到隔壁母猪圈里。

马烽小说《结婚现场会》描写小说中的主人翁王拴牛赶着两头牛堵住了汽车的去路，司

机一再按喇叭，他毫不理睬，没有把牛往旁边赶一赶让路的意思。我的插图就描绘这一情节。

在我的散文《我的乐园》里写到《蛇的故事》时，曾有以下的一段描写：“当一群羊正在

专心一意地吃草时，其中一只突然怪声怪气地‘咩咩’叫起来，张叔叔一听就知道不好了，

又是蛇咬着羊嘴了。于是他就立刻拿出带在身边的小皮筒，从中取出药针，扎羊的嘴，并使劲

儿地挤血，这样羊就可以好起来。蛇可是已经跑掉了。”我的插图就是刻画这一情节的。

1980年8月我趁在长春举行“力群·古元版画展览”之际，游历了久已闻名的长白山。长

白山是北国如画的风景胜地，这里的桦树不是白桦而名为“岳桦”，它的树干不是笔直的，

而像槐树的干，弯弯曲曲，但其枝叶与白桦相同，我画了速写。回太原后于1983年根据速写

又加了一只小船，刻成套色木刻《湖边》。

1981年当我在青岛旅居期间，在水族馆画了条纹髭鲷鱼的速写，后来在1983年配以水

草，刻成具有剪纸风的套色木刻《鱼乐图》。

1980年9月23日于中秋节我和木刻家杜鸿年同志来到黑龙江边，当时岸边桦树和白杨一

片金黄，在蔚蓝色的远山衬托下，显得黑龙江的风景出色地美丽，真使我陶醉。回到太原后

于1984年根据当时画的速写创作了套色木刻《黑龙江之秋》。江的对岸为当时苏联的“观察

亭”。双方都在“观察亭”上通过望远镜观察对方的动静。

1982年夏我作为全国文联委员到江西庐山参加了全国文联在那里举办的“读书会”。庐

山上最多的树木是法国梧桐，有人告诉我法国梧桐又名“悬铃木”，这名字也够起得有味。

庐山的这“悬铃木”使我特别垂青，它细枝下垂，布满如手掌的密密大叶，婆娑片片，层层

自适，山风吹来有如大鹏之展翅、碧裾之飘舞，委实动人。我画了速写，于1986年创作成水

印套色木刻《悬铃木》。曾参加“第九届全国版画展”。后于1987年与黑白木刻《初春》参

加了南斯拉夫“卢布尔雅那国际版画展”。

《初春》是我凭想象于1986年创作的。当时我为了研究刻冬天的柳树而刻成此画。但刻

成后感到还有风景画的意境。

《觊觎》是根据早些年在临汾朋友家做客时画的猫的速写于1986年创作的。

《早春暮归》是根据速写簿上画的树枝加上圆月和鸟以及近景的两头牛和牵牛人创作的。

《农田卫士》是根据我养的一只小猫头鹰画的速写而刻成的，也是采用的石碑拓片的阴

刻法。

1984年夏我作为全国文联委员参加了在桂林的旅游活动，画了不少速写。1989年根据当

时的速写创作成一幅套色木刻《桂林风景》，其中画了远山渔舟和近景芭蕉。

北武当山在山西方山县境内，是吕梁山区的一座由花岗岩形成的大山，我于1991年曾来

此旅游，由侯克捷同志做向导，因为他当时是吕梁地区旅游开发公司的总经理，曾接待过名

人王朝闻、吴冠中。我曾在真武庙下石窟内住了一宿，第二天才上了真武庙。后来下山时在

龟蛇岭面对真武庙画了速写，于1991年根据速写创作成套色木刻《北武当山》。在画中增加

了一只飞翔的喜鹊，使画面生动起来。

《暮色》是根据1992年我从北京回太原在车厢中的感受而创作的。当时车过石家庄后，

正值黄昏，我从玻璃窗外看到具有诗意的美丽暮色，宛如一幅套色版画。归来起稿，经同行们

看了认可，又进行几次修改，刻成套色木刻《暮色》，天空中一只晚归的喜鹊是最后加上的。


《月季花》为了画面有变化，以阴刻与阳刻刻之，意在相反相成。同时也为了以黑衬白

花，使它突出。

《丁香花》是根据当年在太原碑林公园画的速写而于2000年刻成套色木刻的。

《冬枝》是根据速写本上画的冬天的树枝又配以鸟和山水为背景刻成套色木刻的。

《松林》是凭想象创作的。当1962年我下放宁夏时，曾根据在吴忠市农村之所见而创作了套色木刻《归牧》。当时

我看到儿童在大风中领上骡马回家，很动人，于是刻了此画。但因其中有个骡子刻得较大，很不舒服，因此我于2002年根据原画进行了修改，又重刻了一次才算满意。这就是现在陈列在这里的《归牧》。

《黄河人家》是根据早些年在山西临县碛口画的速写于2003年刻成套色木刻的。碛口在黄河边。当年我从延安来晋绥边区就是从碛口对岸过黄河的。现在刻成《黄河人家》，是对黄河的怀念，在画中增加了一些盛开的杏花，既为了美化黄河人家，也为了打破画面色调之闷。

我从1933年开始，从事现实主义的中国新兴木刻，直到2003年为止，整整70年，创作了一百二三十幅作品，经过淘汰，现在剩下陈列在这里的共有123幅，供来宾们欣赏、指教。

2005年8月20日

于京郊香堂村


Li Qun received instruction and encouragement from Mr. Lu Xun after his woodcuts were sent to Lu Xun by Cao Bai.

Cao Bai began to keep in touch with Mr. Lu Xun by mails in March 1936. Lu Xun wrote back on May 4th saying:

The news about Li Qun made me very happy. His woodcuts are very vivid, but there are some failures with respect to human body, which was the result that he did not spend sufficient time on studying it.

Cao Bai was Li Qun’s classmate and a good friend of him. They used to work together for the Muling(Wooden Bell ) Woodcuts Research Institute in Hangzhou and got arrested and imprisoned therefore. After released from prison, Li Qun went to Taiyuan (the provincial capital of Shanxi province), while Cao Bai went to Shanghai and worked in Xinya Middle School as a teacher. They wrote to each other very often during that time. The attack to the areas nearby Taiyuan launched by the Red Army when they marched east there in 1936 made a lot of communists slaughtered, which was called “White Terror”. As described above, when Cao Bai sent a letter to Mr. Lu Xun telling him Li Qun was safe, Lu Xun replied that “The news about Li Qun made me very happy…” It seemed that Mr. Lu Xun had a good understanding for Li Qun’s woodcuts so that he was able to made very sound remarks.

When Cao Bai sent Li Qun’s three woodcuts to Lu Xun, the letter from him to Cao Bai on Aug 2nd that year said as follows:

With regard to the three woodcuts produced by Mr. Hao, I think Picking Leaves is the best. I knew he contributed it to One Day in China, which will be published. The work of Three… looks good at first sight, but he took an “easy way out” approach to the faces of the three people, making them not very clear.

Three… refers to Three Suffering Young Men. To respond the call to write something for One Day in the World proposed by the Gorky, a great writer in Soviet Union, Mao Dun decided to make May 21st 1936 as the specific day, in other words, the book One Day In China would record and narrate what happened on that day. According to what he saw in the outskirts of Taiyuan, Li Qun engraved Picking Leaves for contribution, which depicts that poor people eat leaves to avoid starvation in spring. He did not expect the praise by Lu Xun, which encouraged him so much!

When Cao Bai sent Li Qun’s newly produced work of The Portrait of Lu Xun to Lu Xun, Mr. Lu Xun replied on Aug 7th in a letter, saying:

It is a pity that I cannot attend the woodcuts meeting. I’m not very optimistic about the current situation of Chi-na’s woodcuts art. Some people such as Li Hua are good at woodcuts, but they were caught up in their own styles. Luo Qingzhen’s woodcuts are delicate and show the sense of self-conceit, while his compositions sometimes are random and figures were not that vivid. Mr. Hao engraved the portrait for me. Many thanks. He did not have those drawbacks. I hope his works on exhibition shall not be affected by those.

The Woodcuts Meeting mentioned above referred to The Second National Woodcuts Mobile Exhibition at Ba- xianqiao, in French concession hosted by Young Men Association. Mr. Lu Xun took a visit to it on Oct 8th in spite of his illness. According to Cao Bai, Lu Xun was satisfied with the exhibition. It was a pity that Li Qun did not have a chance to meet Lu Xun because he went to another place to write the slogan for World Language Association. It actually was lifetime regret for Li Qun.

The Instruction and Encouragement from Mr. Lu Xun for Li Qun’s Woodcuts


Comrade Li Qun started his art journey in 1930s. As a woodcut artist, he grew up together with the new wood-cuts art, which played an important role in Chinese revolution.

In the spring of 1941, shortly after I arrived at Yan’an, the four woodcuts artists, Li Qun, Liu Xian, Jiao Xinhe and Gu Yuan held an exhibit in mid-August. During the exhibition, I wrote a commentary titled The First Day with my comments for Li Qun’s woodcuts as follows:

People are impressed by the decorative beauty of his works. He exhibited many works this time and most of them are new works. Apparently, these new works resulted from

his a lot of efforts in quest for new ways. They show sharp differences with his previous works. These differences not only reflect the different expression techniques, but also different purposes for his works. It is the differences that make his new works a major milestone on his art journey.

The Church of Yesterday (i.e. Yan’an LuYi Campus Scenery. Yan’an LuYi or LuYi refers Yan’an Lu Xun Institute of Arts and Literature) is the one deserving the best praise among these works. The expression techniques for this work are very vivid and the vividness is in harmony with the trees in plateau and the clear air in the sky presented by this work, which made us fascinated with the landscape reproduced by the artist.

The Portrait of a Cave-dwelling Builder and Drink Water are similar. Both the engraving techniques and the sketch skills presented by the pictures show a relatively sophisticated level. Drink Water is much more mature than The Portrait of a Cave-dwelling Builder in terms of art skills, but I prefer the later one in terms of composition.

There are different strengths for The Portrait of a Woman and The Portrait of a Girl. The former work shows that the author made huge changes in engraving techniques, which may be a new attempt by him. The picture of this work presents a beauty of flatness and purity just like stone inscriptions. While The Portrait of a Girl did well shows that the author was very good at expression techniques and sketch skills. The northern girl’s face, nose, eyes and mouth were presented in an accurate and appropriate way...

During the 39 years from 1941 up to now, it is a pleasant thing that Li Qun held his woodcuts exhibition in the Botanic Garden of Beijing Beihai Park once again.

This time he exhibited 96 works in all which were produced in different periods. They are all new works except those 26 works that were exhibited in 1941.

A variety of political campaigns occurred for most time of the 39 years, so I can see Li Qun is very diligent.The works exhibited this time cover a diversity of themes and wider aspects of life. In terms of the form, the

author learnt from traditional ways of expression used by our national and folk arts and a simple, bright and lyrical style was established over time. That’s exactly the decorative beauty that I praised for his works years ago.

The different performances and different roles of each kind of art were determined by the different materials and tools used.

As a part of prints, let’s talk about woodcuts first. It takes wood as materials and a graver as a tool. They can easily present the relatively bright themes featured stark contrast. We shall not expect print art to have the effect like that of oil paintings. Even though they are colored big format woodcuts, it is impossible (not suitable at least) to present the epic-like themes of oil paintings.

The overly complicated themes require many pure processing technologies, which are necessary to produce art works but they are not art themselves. Despite of different materials and tools, a common requirement for all kinds of art is to present the reality and show the sense of beauty.

The realities presented by art are not simple reproduction and copy for the objective world, but integration of an artist’s subjective world with objective world.

Comrade Li Qun chose many themes that were like lyric poetries to achieve purity and brightness. Appreci-ating his works gave me a fresh feeling, just like reading lyric poetries. Such as Lily, Pericallis Hybrida, Wild Grape, Dianthus Chinensis and Rehmannia Flower, they all show the fragrance from mountains.

Other works like Dawn, Yangtze River Scenery, Deer Park, Clear Spring, In the Woods and Spring Breeze are all lyric landscapes.

Lyric Poetry on WoodAi Qing


Of Course, he was also engaged in the themes about social life, such as life changes in new villages and scenes of daily work. But these are all not his characteristics of his art. We noticed that many people liked to present this kind of themes and achieved relatively good results.

Please do not think I’m encouraging our artists to avoid the themes about realistic life and do not think that woodcuts artists can only engrave tiny things around them either.

Each artist shall use his own talents consciously according to his own hobbies and skills.Each artist shall have his own specialty. Someone is good at writing marching music, while others are good at

writing lyric songs. We shall not let a soprano sing a song written for a bass.The experience these years proves that Li Qun is good at expressing pure,simple and bright themes.

May 16th, 1980Originally published on People’s Daily, June 9th, 1980


For those early woodcut activists at 1930s, there are few of them still insisting on woodcutting, while Li Qun is one of them. I met him in Wuhan in 1938, when we worked at the Art Division of the Third Department which was led by Mr. Guo Moruo. I witnessed how he produced the works, such as The War of Resistance against Japan and This Is Also the Soldiers’ Life. I was deeply impressed by his simple and plain artistic style, just like my impression of him.

After that, I took in charge of China Woodcuts Institute in Chongqing. For the large number of woodcuts from Yan’an artists delivered to me by the comrade who worked with Xinhua Daily in 1942, the works from Gu Yuan, Yan Han and Li Qun made me and my comrades there surprised. They showed both the new achievement of revolution-ary woodcuts in the liberated area and the new level of our emerging woodcuts art in China. A series of Li Qun’s works, such as Yan’an Lu Yi Campus Scenery, Listen to a Lecture, Help Anti-Japanese Families with Weeding, Drink Water, Logging and Cut Turnips attracted many attention from visitors and the art community. These works proved that Li Qun’s art entered a new phase with increasingly diverse expression techniques and rich prints art languages. The author did well in learning from the advantages of foreign print artists to serve different themes and the main ideas that he wants to express. Besides, he was good at transforming the sketches used for general paintings into prints language to keep the characteristics of woodcuts. I think Yan’an Lu Yi Campus Scenery an intact art work given that its smart processing of light and shadow, proper arrangements for the black and white as well as skilled way of engraving. As for Drink Water, the author engraved it in a very delicate and vivid way for the figure’ muscle anatomy and changes in light and shades. Although we can only see the side of figure, it presents the distinguishing features of the northern Shaanxi farmers. We not only see his solid face, but also dark skin through the wind and sun. Listen to a Lecture depicts a female cadre is nursing her baby while listening to a lecture. People who know her will definitely recognize that’s the author’s wife at a glance. These works withstood by time. They still make us warm after 40 years, which is still of high art appreciation value.

After the war of resistance against Japanese, I received new works of Li Qun, such as Help Anti-Japanese Fam-lilies Repair Spinning Wheels, The Satiated Life Picture, which show obvious changes in his artistic style. He learned more from characteristic of Chinese New Year folk woodcuts, paper-cutting, paper-cutting for window decoration, making these works purer, plainer, simpler, clearer as well as closer to the appreciation habits and aesthetic taste of the majority of workers, farmers and soldiers, which clearly resulted from the author’s study on folk art after Yan’an Rectification Movement in literature and art in 1942.

Lu Xun used to point out that it was a good way to learn from our own tradition as well as excellent foreign art. I think Li Qun made great efforts in these aspects and gained good results shown by his practice of art creation.

Although engaged in busy administrative work since the establishment of People’s Republic of China, Li Qun still insisted on his woodcuts creation and produced a series of works depicting people’s life and nature. Li Qun went to Taihang Mountain area to experience the life there in1950s. He had special feeling to Taihang Mountain. When seeing the harvest in the land where the revolutionary martyrs died for, he could not help with producing the beautiful and touching works like Taihang Mountain Scenery, which was famous for its colors and vivid engraving skills. At the same time, he also produced Dawn and Beijing Snowscape etc, which are fresh, elegant and lyric. There is another very popular still life woodcut, called Pericallis Hybrida with simple and powerful expression techniques and flexible engraving skills. Li Qun was also in quest for the sense of decoration of the picture in a bold manner. In general cases, the sense of decoration presented by a picture is easily in a harmony with elaborate style, just like that the Chinese fine brushworks will show more sense of decoration than its ink paintings. But folk paper-cutting and paper-cutting for window decoration show very good decoration effects by simple and powerful image. I think Li Qun’s woodcuts with the sense of decoration derived from folk art. His Lily, Tradescantia, Singing outside of Willow Branches, Dense Forest and Strong Sheep, Clear Spring, and In the Woods are all good works of this style.

In the early 1960s, Li Qun went to the villages in Ningxia for work about more than one year, when he coached the local young prints artists and kept on art creation at the same with 12 woodcuts produced in a year, breaking the highest production record over the years. These works show the new look of the rural areas of the northwest China after three years of disaster .The author praised the local people’s enthusiasm for labor in the struggle for produc-tion by lyrical pictures, such as The Sound of Drill Barrows Spreads over the Yellow River, Rice Harvest Season, and The Song for Autumn. Besides, the other works mainly depicting scenery are fascinating too, such as By the Stream,

An Article on Li Qun’s Print ExhibitionWang Qi


Spring Comes to The Mountains and Spring Night. After Culture Revolution, the elder generation of prints artists was not discouraged by Four Gang’s cultural

absolutism. Li Qun was over sixty year old then but he still continued to engage in woodcuts. Some works produced from 1972－1980 indicate that he reached a very high level in art. He kept on exploring new expression techniques and opposed to following the old rules and routines. He encouraged young print artists to be creative and do their best for national and modern prints art, which is also the goal of Li Qun for his art. The China Print Artists Asso-ciation was established some time ago in Mountain Huang, Li Qun and many young men climbed up to the top of the Tian Du Peak during that time. I wish him to achieve new level of art by virtue of his courage and persistence in order to make more contribution to the emerging prints of China.

Originally published on Art, Issue 9, 1980


When opening Selected Works of Li Qun’s Prints arranged in chronological order, we can see both the contents and forms of his works are changing along with the development of times. For his works during left wing art move-ment, we can see Mr. Lu Xun’s strong call on woodcuts creation as well as the look of China’s emerging prints during its early period. For the works produced during the war of resistance against Japan, we can see the revolutionary art in growth raise its voice for motherland’s survival. The works of Li Qun that were produced not long after he arrived at Yan’an can be regarded as a big leap for China’s emerging prints. Encouraged by new revolutionary life and inspired by the creation competitions held by the teachers and students at Lu Yi, his works achieved a brand new level both at the ability to reveal main ideas and proficiency in techniques. However, these works show he did not get rid of the influence from foreign prints in terms of art forms.

After Yan’an Forum on Literature and Arts, his woodcuts underwent profound changes. The Satiated Life Pic-ture shows no trace of impacts by foreign woodcuts. Because by continuous creation practice and exploration, the author established his view of masses, identified how to serve the workers, farmers and soldiers and kept on pursuing the goal of developing China’s own prints art and establishing unique individual style of his own. After China was liberated entirely, he produced the works, such as Pericallis Hybrida, Dawn and Water the Horse, which we think he eventually achieved his goal mentioned above. According to the lots of poetic woodcuts produced by him during the nearly 50 years after that, we can find that Li Qun is stepping on a wider art path, while Chinese style and Chinese manner have been organically integrated with his own style.

Li Qun’s woodcuts art history underwent the same development progress as China’s emerging prints, which make us understand he was living in a special historical period of modern Chinese history. When he was young, he experienced civil war, nature disasters, aggression of imperialist powers and the war of resistance against Japan etc. Anyone who has a conscience and sense of responsibility for our society would probably choose to be a fighter consciously to devote himself to fighting for the survival of our nation and transformation the old China, which almost was an inevitable choice for that generation of young people and patriotic artists. The times required him to be both a fighter and an artist. Therefore, we must considerate the history and the style of times arising thereof when we study Li Qun’s art development history and how his artistic style was established. Secondly, if we make the study from the view of woodcuts’ origin, we can see Chinese ancient copy woodcuts were popular in the world initially, then it returned to China in the form of creative woodcuts, and finally the emerging woodcuts art with Chinese manners is established achieved by the great efforts of the call by Lu Xun and the learning and assimilation by the elder generation of prints artists. It reminded me of the global international prints art festival we attended that was held in Maastricht Netherland last year. It exhibited 3500 prints of 2000 artists from more than 80 coun-tries. More than 80 prints works from China’ prints artists distinguished themselves with other countries’ prints by their own Chinese style, which made me feel how important it was to make China’s prints stand out in the world art with its own national style and national manners. We also need to considerate how to learn from foreign art given the frequent international cultural exchange. Besides, we should think about how to insist on the concept of “self-centered” in art creation. These issues should be of common concern by the people engaged in art creation. We think it will inspire and benefit us a lot by studying Li Qun’s role in art history and his art career, analyzing how his own style with Chinese manner and style was established as well as identifying the development progress of Chinese woodcuts pioneers.

Regarding China’s new emerging prints, Lu Xun said, “It was Zhaohua (A weekly magazine on literature and art) that first introduced the creative woodcuts.” There were two “Modern Woodcuts Selection” included in the al-bum named “Yiyuan Zhaohua” ( means Flowers in the realm of literature and art) that was published in 1929, which means sowing the seed of creative woodcuts for China’s Art and attracted a lot of attention from Shanghai, Hang-zhou, Beijing and Guangzhou. So some progressive young people engaged in art began to create their woodcuts. After Li Qun was admitted to National Hangzhou Arts College in 1931, a lot of things happened, such as “Manchu-rian Incident” (September 18th Incident), “Battle of Songhu On Jan 28th 1932”. Besides he was caught into prison in 1933 due to his revolutionary art and Muling(Wooden Bell) Woodcuts Institute dissolved. All these forced him not to give up the weapon of art in order to reveal the dark society and fight for the victory. Illness, Means of Liveli-hood, Three Suffering Young Men, Children Living by Picking Rubbish and Fighting etc were all produced before and

Chinese Style and Chinese Manners on Artistic Styleof Li Qun’s PrintsHan Huimin, Yu Jing


after he was in prison. These woodcuts all presented the real life that time. When he talked about the works for this period in the book of Woodcuts Skills Based on Experience, he said, “I started to learn woodcuts during left-wing period when we learnt woodcuts at art school by ourselves with no any guidance and instruction from teachers and predecessors or any book about woodcuts for reference. The people engaged in woodcuts at Yiba Yishe (One Eight Art Club) were just two years earlier than us. So there was no any experience to learn from. In this case, how can we get the basic knowledge about woodcuts skills? We gained the knowledge mainly from foreign countries’ skills in-troduced by Mr. Lu Xun.”Also he said,“Generally speaking, the left-wing period was the childhood of my woodcuts when I learned from famous artists, such as Mayfield, Franz Masereel, Kaethe Kollwitz and Favorskii et al. Just like a baby who learns to walk will need someone to help him, the knowledge I learnt laid foundation for my woodcuts skills to some extent. I understand the basic characteristics of creative woodcuts and how to produce the black and white woodcuts as well as its expression techniques. ” As Mr. Ye Shengtao said,“Some of our works show the trace of imitation to foreign woodcuts when woodcuts was just introduced into China…We have to imitate others’ when learning any kind of art. The most important thing is that we can start with imitating others but cannot end with imitating. Imitation shall be just the preparation for creative works. By imitation, learning and making consistent efforts on creation.” Li Qun’s woodcuts during this period are getting more mature in terms of art layout, employ-ment of black and white as well as the expression techniques for main ideas, besides he was paying attention to the decorative beauty of woodcuts with the concept more carefully designed and woodcut skills more proficient, such as his works of Harvest, Fighting, This Is Also the Soldiers’ Life, People in Storm. He employed the relationship between light and shade to present the objects and create the tune of grey just like the union patterns produced by repeated use of the flat knife, but all of them showed the impacts of foreign woodcuts techniques in presenting objects except that the contents were different. Meantime, He pursued perfect woodcuts techniques to express his own patriotism for these works. However, the author did not have a clear idea about Chinese manner and style. It is a must for us to understand the social environment in order to have a better understanding for Li Qun’s woodcuts.

Looking back Chinese New-Culture Movement (i.e. May 4th Movement), we can find the revolutionary pro-cess emerged which aimed at saving and transforming Chinese old literature. Literary reformers started to learn from foreign literature on one hand but on the other hand they went too far and neglected inheritance to national culture with 5,000 years of history. A lot of outstanding modern writers made great contribution to the formation and development for China’s new literature with respect of creation and theory ,but the direction of new China’s literature and art especially nationalization issue for them was not very clear and even showed a severe tendency of Europeanization. However, Lu Xun was an excerpt of them. This situation remained till 1938 when Chairman Mao Zedong proposed “to combine international contents with national forms”, to establish “vivid and lovely Chinese manner and style popular with the masses”, which was in the article titled The Position of the Chinese Communist Party in the National War, like spring thunder that awakened many people from the dream of national nihilism. The literature and art communities in Yan’an began to discuss the issue of national forms in 1939. At the same time, many writers and artists also participated in the discussion about “national forms” by writing articles in all anti-Jap-anese base areas and some Kuomintang-controlled areas. As the top leader for Yan’an Lu Yi, Zhou Yang pointed out that, “It is a must to learn about and research the old forms, which should be taken as an integrate part of under-standing and presenting China. The assimilation of the good elements contained in old forms shall be regarded as a necessary resource of new realistic literature.” Also he pointed out that we should “integrate the good elements contained in the old national and folk art forms into new literature and art, which is like fresh and healthy nutrition, to make new culture more national and meet cultural needs from the masses”. In terms of how to create “vivid and lovely national style and national manner popular with China’s masses”, Yan’an Lu Yi stood in the forefront among the China’s literature community at that time. But it was after The Speech at Yan’an Forum on Literature and Arts (“Speech” for short) made by Mao Zedong that as a new kind of art branch the woodcuts artists at Yan’an Lu Yi decided to learn from our national and folk painting forms and change the westernized style in their works with the purpose of creating good works popular with workers, farmers and soldiers.

In 1937, Li Qun produced Fighting, This Is Also the Soldiers’ Life, People in Storm, After Enemy’s Planes Went Away, Suffering Compatriots and Making Winter Clothes for Soldiers while devoting himself to the war of resistance against Japan in the Kuomintang-controlled areas. Just from the perspective of the contents, these works are very valuable for the art community at that time. It was obvious that pursuing a higher level of art achievement meant a big challenge for him due to the social environment that time, the needs for anti-Japanese and national salvation as well as his own knowledge level. But for the about 10 years since he started woodcuts creation, his studies on foreign woodcuts, the instructions and influence from Lu Xun, his serious altitude towards woodcuts creation, especially the requirements by the realities for woodcuts art with militancy at that time all laid solid foundation for


him towards the realistic art.In the spring of 1940, Li Qun arrived at Yan’an and worked at the Art Department of Lu Yi. The brand new

revolutionary environment, relatively settled life as well as working with a group of artists all provided better con-ditions for him to create woodcuts, which made him achieve big woodcuts attainments. The works, such as Help Anti-Japanese Families with Weeding, Drink Water, Logging and Yan’an LuYi Campus Scenery were created by virtue of his high level of enthusiasm and his attitude of making the best works. These works show strong sense of times and life. Help Anti-Japanese Families with Weeding presents the looks and gestures of the weeding people while they are laboring. The main idea is presented by the gestures of the four different people and four hoes, especially by the details that a person bends down to hold a seedling, which means that they all help with anti-Japanese families weeding very carefully. Drink Water focuses on having water during work, which is very typical, to present the main idea that the farmer feels happy when he has some water during work as well as the difficulty of working in hot summer. The author praises the handsome body shapes of the laboring people as well as the nature of simplicity, hard working and bravery of the farmers in the northern Shaanxi province. The author focuses on the look, pro-portion, structure, the changes between light and shade and the relationship between black and white to present the distance relationship for the scenery, physical body, the sense of reality and the changes in facial structure when the farmer is having water as well as the strength of his arms’ muscle…Therefore, anyone who experienced art creation would see the precision and accuracy resulted from the hard work of the author. Compared with the works in Kuomintang-controlled areas, these works made great progress not only in the expression techniques, but also the changes in author’s view for the world as well as his further understanding for life. The experience of doing these work himself made him have a deep feeling for laboring people, which helps him find the beauty of laboring from the life in Yan’an. The changes in these emotional elements not only show the advantage of education function which are reflected by his previous works but also improve the function of appreciation and aesthetics, reflecting the author’s pursuit for aesthetics and his consideration about how to produce the image of laboring people perfectly. The changes in his worldview made his thoughts more mature towards art creation, which is one of the elements that shall not be ignored for the establishment of Chinese style for his woodcuts. These works show the influence by foreign woodcuts, and we can still see the efforts made by the author to pursue the brightness and simplicity in terms of the expression and techniques for his thoughts and feelings.

When discussing the works created during this period, Li Qun said, “when I started to work on woodcuts, I learned from Soviet Union’s prints and I like the woodcuts created by the school of Favorskii, so that my works have some style of Soviet Union’s works unconsciously. When I arrived at Yan’an, I started to consider that I shall get rid of the influence by Soviet Union and establish the style of my own. The shift in styles can be reflected by the works of Drink Water, Logging and Yan’an LuYi Campus Scenery.” In his another article, he said, “Before Chairman Mao’s Speech, I have required myself to establish the style of my own, so I study the new ways about engraving very carefully in order to not being affected by Soviet Union’s woodcuts techniques.” He also talked about the fact that he tried many techniques but none of them met his expectation, and he said, “The primary reason was that I did not escape foreign influence, which made me not satisfied with the works.” According to what he said, it indicated that Li Qun wanted not to be influenced by foreign works and the efforts he made to establish the style of his own. Al-though he studied the new ways for engraving, he still felt sad because “the works cannot make him satisfied”, which showed that the author made great efforts before the Speech but still not shake off the impacts of foreign skills. This is the key point that we should study and think about, because it tells us clearly that the shift from presenting China’s contents by learning from foreign techniques to create the works of Chinese style and Chinese manner not only requires his exploration for new techniques and his careful attitude but also needs more important elements and steps. Therefore, all previous works and efforts are only the prelude for Li Qun to create the woodcuts with Chinese style and Chinese manners.

In May of 1942, Li Qun participated in the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art and listened to the Speech at Yan’an Forum on Literature and Arts made by Mao Zedong, and then went through the Yan’an Rectification Movement. Li Qun said the most important thing he gained from this movement regarding his thought was that he established the view of the masses and the view of laboring. Therefore, he stared to create with Chinese New Year prints with the woodcuts artist at Yan’an LuYi after the Rectification Movement. “The bright and simple picture with bright colors and clear and distinctive main idea is the main characteristics of the Chinese art works, which is in line with the Chinese appreciation habits, in the process of pursuing the answer for the woodcuts of Chinese style and Chinese manners from the woodcuts illustrations left over by history, folk Chinese New Year prints as well as Kitch-en God, Door God, shadow puppet and paper-cutting that are popular in northern Shaanxi.” “These art practices not only contributed to the atmosphere of learning from traditional art, which helps him produce many woodcuts


by directly employing the folk forms but also make him get rid of the influence of foreign forms by abandoning the light and shades relationship and complex background wired to Chinese people and close to the simple and bright Chinese style and Chinese manners, which finally became a basic feature for the later woodcuts created by Yan’an LuYi.” Therefore, Li Qun published Satiated Life Picture in the form of folk Chinese New Year paintings. This work was a key turning point for him, and after that he got rid of the foreign influence and began to produce works of Chinese manners, which was a big leap.

He assimilates the characteristics of folk Chinese New Year paintings for The Satiated Life Picture, such as full symmetry composition, bright and red colors, clear and distinctive main idea. Li Qun learnt the essence of national and folk arts, showed his respect to Chinese aesthetic habits and explored how to present Chinese style and style based on Chinese traditional culture and national and folk art, which made him finally to abandon without any hesitation the characteristics of western sketches, such as the changes in light and shade, fine engraving skills and sketch skills, which gave rise to the rough lines as used in folk Chinese New Year pictures. Due to these huge changes, he got rid of foreign influence completely. When Li Qun made a conclusion for the works during this period, he said, “The study for the Speech on Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art made us clear that the art should serve for worker, farmers and soldiers and how to present it. In order to make art easily accepted by worker, farm-ers and soldiers, in addition to the understanding their life and their thoughts to create their images correctly, it is a must to make changes in the expression techniques. We noticed that we should learn more to the folk art and the national art tradition. I used more techniques about the lines for embossment, tried not to make the pictures have sense of darkness by the black and white relationship and employed the techniques used by folk Chinese New Year pictures when presenting the figure’s face instead of using the chiaroscuro. Besides, I knew that those colorful pictures were more easily accepted by them than the single color ones after I came into contact with farmers, so I tried to produce colored woodcuts. I made Satiated Life Picture during this period, which is a colored woodcut that shows no influence by European woodcuts and with distinctive Chinese manners, with shortcomings in composi-tion and techniques though.” He also said, “I tried my best to get rid of the influence by European woodcuts when I was in Yan’an in order to explore new kind of national forms and the unique style of my own. So when we think about the techniques, we shall always consider the appreciation habits of our people and their interest and hobbies so as to make my works be of Chinese style and Chinese manners.” All of these indicate that Speech made Li Qun understand a fundamental issue that art shall serve for the workers, farmers and soldiers. Therefore, in his art career, “I shall consider the appreciation habits of people and their interests and hobbies when exploring national forms and individual unique style.” Therefore, by assimilating national and folk art and changing engraving skills to make them popular with the masses, he engaged in art creation based on the needs of the times just like a soldier. Ob-jectively, according to the knowledge level of the masses, as long as the forms of art become popularized, it will be suitable for revolutionary propaganda to awaken the people. These needs force Li Qun who acted as both a soldier and an artist together with other artists to change their European skills and begin to learn from national arts. It was the needs for that time, which also contributed to the establishment of new style. These internal and external elements with casual relationship are the key elements for Li Qun and other artists to establish their woodcuts style of Chinese style and Chinese manners, especially the huge changes presented by Satiated Life Picture became a new beginning for Li Qun to form his personal artistic style with Chinese style and Chinese manners.

The French writer Buffon in the eighteenth century said, “The style is the man. The style of an artist exactly showed the thoughts, personality and quality of him.” So after he got rid of the influence by foreign woodcuts, which woodcut is the most typical of his style among the works with his own style produced by him after the China was liberated? I think it is the Let the Horse Have Water produced in 1957. Why? Please have a look at this work. It shows a soldier is touching the bristle of the horse with one hand, and pulling the rein with the other hand, looking at the tall and white horse that is having water. The contrast between black and white and the clear main idea remind us of such a scenario that, during the years of fighting, a young soldier lets the horse have water between the battles or the spare time when leaders are having meeting in order to make good preparation for his new task, which indicates intense atmosphere in the years of war. Although it is not a masterpiece, it indicates Li Qun has assimilated the folk arts. He used to learn the folk paper-cutting and the characteristics of folk Chinese New Year paintings has been incorporated in his woodcuts, and the engraving skills reached to a high level after years of efforts. He was very skilled in using the knife tool without blade boldly, decisively, readily and purely by a few strokes while effectively integrating shapes, the relationship between black and white to achieve the effects like that by oil paintings. Each stroke make people feel it is about sketch, layout and color with techniques indicating his proficiency and enthusi-asm. It makes people impressed by these unique art techniques, which are just like his characters of stubbornness, courage, honesty and earnest. Therefore, we saw the unique style of Li Qun, which is simple, bright, full of the


beauty of poetry by amazing engraving skills with the beautify of strength. He established the Chinese style which was of oriental artistic charm.

When we look at these woodcuts produced in the decades after that, the skills initially used in this work can be seen in other works, such as The Commune Cadres After Meeting, Spring Night, and Spring Comes to Ningxia, Deer Park, In the Woods, and The Image of Happy Fishes. So when we study on the establishment of Li Qun’s woodcuts with Chinese style and Chinese manners, this work shall not be ignored based on its creation time. The gap between this work and The Satiated Life Picture existed during the period of penance before he established his distinctive style with Chinese manners, and Let the Horse Have Water is a new milestone towards this goal.

In Li Qun’s book Woodcuts Skills Based on Experience published in 1963, he said, “It is very difficult to make innovation for woodcut techniques except the inspiration derived from national art legacy. The art heritage created by our predecessors is very rich. The works created based on the national art heritage will be of national charac-teristic. The important thing is to be innovative instead of imitative. Although I learn from the foreign prints, I try to assimilate them for my works during the process of creation but at the same time not let them affect my works of national style.” We have to admit that this is Li Qun’s understanding and practice for “Make the past serve the present.” and “Make the foreign arts serve Chinese arts.” and his attitude of taking advantages of national art heri-tage and foreign art. As what is said by Lu Xun, people who eat beef and lamb will not become the oxen and sheep. It is the attitude towards art creation, clear purpose and rich experience that make him effectively both integrate Chinese manners with the woodcuts features and combine his individual unique style with ever-changing Chinese style. His constant creation, digestion and understanding life further made him produce many outstanding works with his great enthusiasm in more than half a century.

Here, I want to make a further analysis for his practice about pursuing his individual style with Chinese man-ners while learning from national and folk arts.

In his book On Woodcuts Skills, he said, “I used to learn from seal engraving by Qi Baishi in terms of emboss-ment and intaglio, assimilated the expression techniques of Hunan printed calico, and studied the so-called skills of ‘leaky roof mark’ proposed by Wu Changshuo together with folk art such as stone sculptures in Han dynasty and folk paper-cutting etc.” Therefore, Li Qun always makes an emphasis on learning from national and folk arts to un-derstand the beauty of national art and the appreciation habits of our people in addition to the consistent study on foreign art. He took a visit to Soviet Union twice in 1957 and 1958 to make investigation on many works from the Russian tour exhibition school and modern Soviet Union’s art, and then published Insightful Soviet Union’s Famous Paintings Appreciation. When he edited the magazine of Prints, he introduced many excellent woodcuts works from Soviet, Europe and Latin America. In terms of his feeling about these works, he said, “I started my art career by learning the western sketches, still life and so on first , which misled me to think that mastering the skills in realistic depiction was the most important requirement, which remained till I started my woodcuts creation. But finally I understood that the reality of art was not the same as the reality of life not even the realistic description for things either based on increasing knowledge of art, the rich experience in creation, my study on China’s paintings and appreciation activities to the other related arts and music as well as my understanding for China’s classical poetry. I think the difference between art and life relies on the motivation and innovation of the artist, which takes the art to a higher level with more beauty and individual style”. These shows China’s national and folk arts play an important role for his woodcuts style. We can make a further analysis for this according to his works.

When he was a teacher, Li Qun used to mention that he benefited a lot from China’s ancient drama and loved it very much, but at the beginning, he did not like drama. He understood the difference between the truth of art and the truth of life by appreciating the ancient dramas. He said, “Susan under Escort occurred in Shanxi province. In the real life, it was a long way from Hongtong County to Taiyuan, so it was reasonable that the figure shall have unkempt appearance due to exposed to a variety of whether with the torture devices at the same time. But in the drama of Susan under Escort, the figure of Susan is good-looking with the chains for her being designed as a beau-tiful fish, which can highlight a beautiful girl which is kind, bullied and pitiful. Besides, the way of walking in the drama is similar to the dance in the drum music. If people walk the same way as in the drama, other people will take him as a psycho or mad person.” He also said, “The reason why the ancient drama can survive derives from the art innovation by a great number of artists in addition to its content with the function of enlightenment, it’s that drama is different from painting and it needs to be processed for a second time. Each actor needs to shape the image and characters for the roles by artistic performance based on his understanding for the script. Thanks to all the efforts made by previous drama artists, the ancient drama survives with great artistic charm. China’s ancient drama is our national art treasure. It pays more attention on performance than the props with the requirement for performance to be accurate, capable, and elegant but props to be simple. Sometimes the props can have multiple uses, so the dra-


ma mainly relies on the performance. The Peking opera of Crossroads is the typical Peking opera art. Although the actors perform in the darkness, the light in the stage are very bright, which inspired us to understand that China’s traditional drama is the real art that has been processed in an artistic way, therefore only through the terrific art processing, and our prints produced will become excellent prints art.”

In his article of On Arts Processing, Li Qun described the benefits he gained from ancient Chinese drama in details, which also were applied to his creation. As processed in his print of Spring Night, on the picture there is a big pear tree burgeoned out, two drill barrows, a loudspeaker, a number of bikes arranged neatly in addition to lamp light as well as the crescent moon. Although it is in the darkness, it is not dark all the way…The scenery in this picture that is quite general, typical and has some implications is designed to present the spring night.

When Li Qun made a study on Chinese paintings, he said, “with respect of the figure paintings in Tang and Song dynasties, the paintings of landscape, flower and birds, religious murals in Dunhuang and Yongle Palace and the sculptures in Yungang and Maiji Mountain, they all show a good tradition, which is to focus on taking the es-sence from the life and nature and discarding the dregs and not describing them based on the reality.” He also wrote a book of “On Qi Baishi” and edited a book of “The Study on Qi Baishi”, which made him assimilated a lot from these studies for his prints creation. Chinese values the artistic conception most, which is the soul of Chinese paintings. Li Qun put emphasis on the artistic conception for his prints creation. Therefore, Ai Qing praised Li Qun’s prints as the “lyric poets in the wood”, which made sense. Dawn produced by him in 1950s is a wonderful masterpiece with deep artistic conception. This work makes us feel like under a tall and well-shaped persimmon tree in a quiet and cool valley at dawn, the figure in the picture rides a donkey coming towards us with the last quarter moon up in the sky and it seems that we can hear the rhythmic sound made by donkey hooves, which shows the conception the same as the verse that “It seems to be quieter in the mountains when birds are singing!” When we play the Me-andering Footpath contained in the Grand Canyon Suite by the famous composer of Ferde Grofe, which also has the arctic conception of quiet valley, the neigh of donkey, the kicking by the donkey’s hooves and the echoes of the valley, we can feel it is such a wonderful surprise that the two works in visual art and the auditory art have similar artistic conception. If we take the Meandering Footpath as the background music of Li Qun’s Dawn, it is going to be more vivid, isn’t it? This is also what the two artists seek to achieve in their works, and shows what he learnt from ancient Chinese poetry and assimilated into his works. There are many other works of this style, such as After Snow, Singing Outside of Willow Branches, Clear Spring, Summer Wind, Spring Night, The Sound of Drill Barrows Spread over the Yellow River, New City in Sight, which are all wonderful works. As Wang Guowei said, “All language for scenery is about feeling.” This is what I felt when I appreciated these prints. The artistic conceptions of his woodcuts can make us not only appreciate the picture but also place us into its artistic conceptions to feel the feeling that the author wants to express. Compared Cadres after Meeting with Spring Night, we can see that the former focuses on presenting the figures, which makes people associate it with the future after this meeting, and the later one focuses on the scenery ,which makes us associate it with the warm scene of the meeting in the room and the meeting topics. As for Singing Outside of Willow Branches, the author not only followed the rules of Chinese paintings of flowers and birds in its composition, but also assimilated the essence of artistic conception for Chinese paintings with respect of it scenery, objects, feeling as well the sound. Besides, As for The Song for Autumn, the author employed the techniques of China’s paintings of flowers and birds in his colored prints which showed very good effects, and expanded the themes for colored prints therefore. The quietness and elegance shown by In the Woods, the rhythmic beauty of Summer Wind, the infinite energy of Clear Spring as well as the beautiful scenery of Beijing Snowscape all make us feel the beautiful artistic conception, which stems from the charming art of Chinese traditional paintings.

Paintings arts can be divided into figurative art and abstract art according to related standards, while the op-posite of the fine brushworks is the freehand brushworks which is between the abstract and the figurative paintings. When Li Qun indentified that the shortcomings for western paintings lied in the excessive emphasis on the realistic description, he made use of the advantage of Chinese paintings regarding its artistic conception for his prints art in his consistent art practice against the realistic description, such as Spring Comes to Ningxia, The Song for Autumn, Wild Grape. Yangtze River Scenery, The Image of Happy Fishes and Summer of Tianshan. His colored woodcuts also indicate that he takes advantage of Chinese paintings as well as the techniques about color for ancient murals and folk art, which is combined with his skills in modeling, learnt from western paintings to make him decidedly seek for his art style with Chinese style.

The freehand brushworks are different from western paintings in terms of the employment of colors, which is that its colors show the sense of decoration in addition to employing its original color and giving up the relationship between light and shade. Because the natural colors are not employed for freehand brushworks directly, but they are changed to make them not affected by the colors of light source and the colors of environment, in order to demon-


strate the role of colors independently. Based on this idea and the requirements of the main idea and the economic use of color plates for woodcuts, Li Qun made a very strict selection for the woodcuts colors. Besides, he was open to the characteristics of the hue in western paintings to pursue the effects of contrast and harmony about colors. He also kept the belief of “fight against the realistic description” to abandon the use of the natural changes of colors caused by the light which is also rejected by Chinese paintings artists. The beautiful works such as Lily, The Portrait of A Maiden, A Woman Commune Member and A Sweet Garden with Lotus and Night Breeze.

I appreciate Li Qun’s prints and understand his opinions for the black in the prints just like that Chinese artists will not take ink as black but make it as a tool for layout. Li Qun took the black as one of important elements for his prints, which means the black can either present any color or present no color. It exists to express main ideas as an important language. He was not good at realistic description. So he did not use realistic colors for his colored woodcuts based on the needs for feeling and the economic use of color plates due to constrained by the woodcuts material, coloring as well as techniques. This is good to highlight the characters of prints art to express main ideas of the works perfectly. Li Qun’s woodcuts fully reflect that he is capable of taking artistic techniques as a method to transition the color changes to artistic feeling to influence us. Therefore we can see that the colors employed in Li Qun’s excellent woodcuts shows some kind of feeling. Of course, the form and the colors are mutually dependent. The transition from the colors we can perceive on the picture to no color perceived on it is actually the use of color with the transition from color itself to feeling, and it is also a process transitioned from material to feeling. So a perfect works won’t make us feel the excited by colors initially just like that when a good actor performs, we will feel that he is showing. By employing the colors for prints, many Li Qun’s colored woodcuts such as Dawn, Beijing Snowscape, After Snow, Spring Comes to DongTing Lake and Early Spring in Northern China reach the state of “color-less” due to the combination of feeling with the main ideas. We can see the quietness and purity indicated by Beijing Snowscape, the tranquility and the great vitality by The Early Spring in Northern China, the colorful and wonderful scenes of the Summer of Tianshan as well as the bright and lovely scenes of Spring Comes to DongTing Lake. His some works show perfect artistic effects stemmed from the combining Chinese and western artistic elements by leveraging watermark and mimeograph in a smart way. In these works, the feeling of colors is all about the works, which is fully expressed. These show that that Li Qun is assimilating the essence of national art heritage and the efforts he made to combine the Chinese art with the western art, which made the Chinese manners and individual style established for his prints works to a new height.

Li Qun used to say, “I think we have a great number of traditional arts with respect of folk art and paintings by literati, which is what we should inherit and also what we should learn from for the development of woodcuts.” So what he learnt from Chinese national and folk art become one of the primary elements for the establishment of his prints style with Chinese style for the middle and later period of his art career.

According to the works in black and white and in colors mentioned above, we know that they are the prints with Li Qun’s unique style. Although the depiction of characters, the employment of engraving skills, colors and artistic forms present the essence of national and folk arts, they are absolutely different from the stone relief in Han dynasty, inscriptions on ancient bronzes and stone tablets and paper-engraving, and they are the Li Qun’s prints that cannot be replaced, which is results of his attitude towards art, i.e. assimilation, thinking, practicing and never satisfying with what he has achieved. So in his book of A Brief Analysis on Artistic Style, he pointed out, “We get the following conclusion based on my many years of experience on creation, which is that we shall keep Chinese manners while learning from foreign art, follow the spirits of times when leaning the ancient arts, retaining own characteristics when learning from the similar arts, and establishing individual style when learning from the peers.” Because he kept on the study on both Chinese art and foreign arts with so clear and firm belief and by many creation practices, he had a deep understanding for the nature of paintings. When he engaged in creation as an artist, his poetic woodcuts show what he is seeking for and the ideal authentic quality in order to create the art for the people and for the times with his own style. He followed the principle that artistic methods should serve the purpose of creation to reach such a level that he could use the methods freely but not constrained by them.

As I said, Li Qun took the advantage of Chinese folk paper-cutting for his woodcuts. When he studied the folk paper-cutting, he used to work with an ordinary woman to produce a very good paper-cutting work called Weaving. In 1961, he edited a book of Folk Paper-cutting in Ningxia. There are other woodcuts created by the influence of paper-cutting, such as Dense Forest and Strong Sheep, The Image of Happy Fishes, Spring Comes to Dongting Lake. Dense Forest and Strong Sheep was created in Ningxia. The Shepherd boy, alamo forest, black goats, white sheep, bushes, wild flowers, birds and butterflies are all well arranged in terms of composition. The relationship between black and white remains the characteristics of plane composition for paper-cutting, besides the discontinuous lines engraved in intaglio make the picture full of changes and highlight what it wants to express, giving people the


wonderful sense of quiet and comfort. The broke lines was inspired by Hunan province’s printed calico. The author delivers the message to people about his love for nature, good memory for childhood and his pursuit for his ideal through this mythic woodcut. I think the most wonderful part of this picture lies in the relationship between black and white that is processed in a very skilled way with the leaf presented by discontinuous lines in intaglio and bush-es by dots in intaglio and the small triangle for the goat body in intaglio and the leaves and flowers by discontinu-ous engraving…These smart processing not only make these dots and lines demonstrate the unique and brilliant characteristics of woodcuts, but also remains the style of the Hunan printed calico, which also becomes the “grey” part of the whole picture with the little white space and white sheep as the white part of this picture. It seems to be like a light music with the effects of symphony instead of a lyric poet that depicts a shepherd boy plays the flute. The most important thing for art is to be creative. Dense Forest and Strong Sheep are created after long time of art exploration and practices in terms of artistic form and modeling. For example, the eyes of the sheep show both the characteristics of the sheep eyes (horizontal pupils) as well as the characteristics of woodcuts and paper-cutting. What is invaluable is that Li Qun’s this work together with his other many works shows no influence by others’ works. That is his style as a famous prints artist, which is the reason why the many people are impressed by his unique woodcuts style. According to The Image of Happy Fishes, we can find that he assimilated the characteristics of paper-cutting in north China, which is general, vivid, decorous and plain. Although he just used two colors, the picture can make us feel the water and swimming of fishes vividly. Every time I appreciate this work, I can feel the fishes are swimming gently. The still picture demonstrates the effect of dynamics. The best thing is shape of fish is rough like the paper-cutting in north China, at the same time it looks deep and heavy by just a few strokes like the stone relief. The author has considered carefully for the swimming direction of fishes (upwards slightly, downwards slightly, hidden or shown up, forwards or backwards), water and color spots. Seeing the fishes are swimming so re-laxed and pleased, we will fell relaxed and cheerful therefore. It happened that I was at Liqun’s home when this work was completed. I was shocked by the power of his art after I saw it, which reminded me of the Guanyin stone in-scription of Beiwei dynasty in forest of steles in Xi’an with the fine and smooth arms created by coarse stone. Spring Comes to Dongting Lake, I think, is one of the best works of Li Qun produced in 1980s, which can be regarded as a masterpiece just like a flawless jade with respect of its expression for the main idea, the accurate stroke, combination of paper-cutting with woodcuts, smooth engraving skills, the smart employment of the relationship between black and white, the integration of layout with engraving skills as well as the very highly general colors. What a beautiful spring of artistic conception it presents to us! We can see the reflections of willow branches which are like smoke, the boat on the lake and the buffalo drinking water, eating grass and walking around with its tail swinging around. Although the work is close to us, it can make us see the wide scenery far away, a feeling just like that we are in warm spring breeze. Apart from the exquisite skills that Li Qun used to integrate the essence of decorative beauty used by ancient paper-cutting with the breath of spring in this work to bring us a lot of fun, the willows not only show the transparency and characteristics of smoke-like willow branches, the beauty of spring and rhythm, but also show the strength of wood engraving to make the trunk to be decorous and pleasant. The excellent part is the little dots on the trunk in intaglio, which is the grain of the trunk but also presents the vitality in spring.If you have read the article of Let’s talk from Ai Youyou, we can see his understanding for the song of Ai Youyou in the work of Spring Comes to Dongting Lake, which has been employed in a professional and skilled way. We can also see that each image and each detail in his works not only conform to the rules in life but also need to be appropriate for art that shall not be add-ed, educed, modified and deleted in order to achieve the overall appropriate beauty for art. Woodcuts are different from the other paintings which need the tools of paper and brush, because it must be engraved once again if there is any mistake in engraving, otherwise it will become a pity. However, Li Qun’s woodcuts are very interesting, which are full of beauty of strength and masculinity. They are designed to strike a responsive chord in the heart of people rather than pleasing people by factitious beauty, therefore making people impressed very much. Nobody knows how many times he engraved for his fabulous works. When he created Spring Night, it looked perfect after engraved and printed, but it occurred to him that the he should add a bike for woman to indicate the important role of women as “half sky”, so he engraved again to his satisfaction.

The three works of Li Qun’s woodcuts mentioned above are influenced by the folk paper-cutting. The assimi-lation and employment of Chinese folk arts especially the folk paper-cutting make them very good masterpieces. It can make us understand that the establishment of Li Qun’s prints style with Chinese style and Chinese manners are related with our rich national and folk arts heritage.

Li Qun’s peak of creation occurred from 1960s to Culture Revolution which made him and many Chinese art-ists missed 10 years for creation. After the downfall of The Gang of Four, another new peak of creation came about with many fine works produced such as the Summer of Tianshan, Yangtze River Scenery, The Early Spring in North


China, In the Woods and Clear Spring. In the Woods is very popular in both China and foreign countries, and Clear Spring was exhibited on the The 50th anniversary exhibition for China Emerging Prints in French and selected as posters for this exhibition and the cover for the album of paintings, which is the honor for China’s prints earned by Li Qun’s distinctive style with Chinese style and Chinese manners. So far, Li Qun is about 80 years old, but he still keeps on writing books and making prints. Over the more than half a century, there is the history for him to remember as a soldier, and as an artist, and he created many excellent works for our motherland and the people, which becomes an integrate part of China’ arts. Besides, his unseal art development history will mean a lot for us to learn and think deeply about.

October, 1994Yinchuan


First of all, it is appreciated that the government of Lingshi County and the entrepreneur of Mr. Zhang Guoxing built Li Qun Gallery within the Wang’s Grand Courtyard, which provides me an opportunity to show my works to the people.

The works exhibited here were created during the 70 years between 1933 and 2003. Due to the woodcuts I en-gaged in during the 70 years, I was used to put into prison by Kuomintang, sent to the countryside, besides I needed work very hard to learn artistic theories and study a variety of arts including drama and music day and night.

I should appreciate two persons for my achievement in prints over the 70 years. One is the great writer Mr. Lu Xun. It is he that advocated the emerging woodcuts and published many foreign prints albums for reference. So we established the Muling(Wooden Bell) Woodcuts Institute at National Hangzhou Arts College in 1993, from which we began our journey towards the realistic arts. I got instruction and encouragement from Lu Xun after I produced some woodcuts. I couldn’t make success in prints without Mr. Lu Xun’s help, so I should give my many thanks to him.

The other person is comrade Mao Zedong. His Speech on the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art made me get rid of the influence of “Europeanization”, and established my style of Chinese style and Chinese manners, which are very popular among the workers, farmers and soldiers.

I keep on following the pace of times since I started to work on the emerging woodcuts art. I am always con-cerned about our motherland and our people and hate Japan’s imperialism…which is expressed by my woodcuts produced at that time.

The Illness exhibited here was the first woodcut I made after I participated in Muling (Wooden Bell) Woodcuts Institute, which is designed to express the main idea that when an elder worker got ill, his wife was taking of him. But there was no such thing in my life, so I made it just based on my imagination. I consulted the techniques used in pictures for Zement Meffert, which is a woodcut by a German’s artist. The original work was not saved, so we made a copy of this works based on the Modern Chinese Woodcuts Selection Collected by Lu Xun, because we used to send to Lu Xun the Muling (Wooden Bell) Woodcuts Exhibition that was printed manually and Muling (Wooden Bell) Woodcuts Collection printed by machine.

Cao Bai, Ye Luo and I were caught in to prison by Kuomintang due to Muling (Wooden Bell) Woodcuts In-stitute on Oct 10th 1933. About one year later I was released from prison in 1935 and I created the woodcut of Three Suffering Young Men in remembrance of this arrest. This work was created under some extent of influence by Masereel’s works.

I returned to Taiyuan from Shanghai in 1935 and worked at the Art Communication Agency establish by comrade of Du Renzhi. I very often saw the poor children picking up rubbish on street, so I created the woodcut of Children living by Picking Rubbish to express my concerns and sympathy to them.

After “9.18 Incident”, Japan occupied the northeast of China and kept on invading towards inside of Shanghai pass of China while Kuomintang kept on giving up fighting step by step. The general Ji Hongchang used to fight against Japanese army but failed at last due to the acts of sabotage by Kuomintang. So I engraved Fighting in memory of Ji Hongchang, which also expressed my expectation for the future.

In 1936, the famous great writer Gorky advocated global writers to write something for the main idea of “One Day in the World”. Chinese writer Mao Dun decided to make May 21st 1936 as that specific day (i.e. the book One Day In China will record and narrate what happened on May 21st 1936) to solicit contributions. According to what he saw in the outskirts of Taiyuan on that day, I engraved Picking Leaves for contribution, which depicts poor people eating leaves to avoid starvation in spring. When I asked for Cao Bai to help me deliver Picking Leaves and other two woodcuts to Mr. Lu Xun, Lu Xun replied that, “With regard to the three woodcuts produced by Mr. Hao, I think Picking Leaves the best. I knew he contributed it to One Day In China, which will be printed out…” I was very happy to hear this good news and got his praise.

The work of Bird was engraved for the cover as decorative woodcut for the Series of Newspaper of Literatures published in Shanghai in 1936. When Ai Qing saw it in Yan’an in later time, he said, “It is as good as French wood-cuts.”

When Taiyuan Art Agency was suspended in the summer vacation of 1936, I went to Shanghai again and lived

How Were the Prints Exhibited in Li Qun Gallery ProducedLi Qun


in Xinya Middle School where Cao Bai worked as a teacher, and I engraved The Portrait of Lu Xun and Japanese Armed Smuggling etc. Cao Bai helped me to send The Portrait of Lu Xun to Lu Xun, who replied that, “I’m not very optimistic about the current situation of China’s woodcuts arts. People such as Li Hua are capable to produce wood-cuts, but they are caught up in their own styles. Luo Qingzhen’s woodcuts are delicate and show his self-conceit, while the composition sometimes is random and figures are not that vivid. Many thanks for Mr. Hao to engrave the portrait for me. He does not have these drawbacks. I hope his exhibition works would not be affected.” which was big encouragement for me. The Portrait of Lu Xun was published on the famous monthly magazine of Novelists in Shanghai later, which was selected into the Comprehensive Works of World Arts published by them, too.

When I went to Shanghai from Taiyuan by way of Beiping(former name of Beijing),my friend Mr. Jin Zhaoye sent me to Tianjin port where Japanese soldiers were carrying goods across a bridge while I was crossing the bridge too. Jin Zhaoye told me that was armed smuggling with the purpose of avoiding customs inspection and customs duty. Therefore I engraved the work of Japanese Armed Smuggling in Xinya Middle School based on my impression.

I was living in the Jijiaku, western suburb of Shanghai in the autumn of 1936. On the morning of October 19th, I saw a grey car parking in front of our house when I had got up but not put on socks and brushed my teeth, followed by the hurry-up sound of tapping at the door. The comrades in the room were frightened and thought that they came here to arrest someone. After opening the door, we found that it was Cao Bai and a Japanese lady named Chitianxingzi with the bad news that Mr. Lu Xun passed away at 5:25 am and they needed me to draw his deadee immediately. I got on the car in a hurry with paper and charcoal and drove all the way to the home of Lu Xun locat-ed in Dalu New Village. We went upstairs and saw our respected mentor lying in bed still with a quilt covering his serene remains. As a key figure and soldier fighting in all his life to awake Chinese people’ spirit, he was exhausted and was to be in a long sheep forever. Sadness hung over the room. Xiao Jun wailed with his head and arms resting on the table. There were other people at site, such as Zhou Jianren, Hu Feng, Huang Yuan and Lu Xun’s Japanese friends Ludigen and Neishanwanzao. Mr. Jing Song received guests with tears in his eyes. I drew four sketches for Lu Xun’s remains with my trembling hands and in tears. Cao Bai drew it too. Then Cao Bai and I had lunch in the reading room of Lu Xun at lunch time. We sent Lu Xun’s remains to Wanguo funeral parlor. Then I participated in the wake and sang an elegy about mourning Mr. Lu Xun at the funeral. Our respected Song Qingling, Cai Yuanpei and Shen Junru et al walked in the front of cortege.

I was not clear where Lu Xun’s Remains I drew was kept for many years until my son Hao Ming found the book of Lu Xun’s Album in Hong Kong in 1977 which included this work. He sent me this work from Hong Kong. The picture exhibited here is the copy of this work.

Harvest was created based on my sketch drawn in the village of Jijiaku, western suburb of Shanghai under the influence of Wild People by Goncharov, a Soviet Union’s woodcuts artist.

In 1937, the war of resistance against Japan finally broke out by “7.7 Incident” (i.e. Lu Gou Bridge Incident on July 7th) and the “8.13 Incident”, which made me very happy. So I engraved woodcuts of Fighting and This Is Also The Soldiers’ Life in Anqing and Secure Our Motherland engraved in Wu Han. Although these works were engraved based on the related pictures, they expressed my feeling at that time that was supporting the war of resistance against Japan.

Later, I worked at National Revolutionary Art Institute as the head of Art Department, when I engraved People in Storm which presented the life those days.

All the works mentioned above were engraved in the Kuomintang-controlled areas.When “The Incident between New Army and Old Army”(New Army refers to Chinese Communist Party,

Old Army refers to Kuomintang) occurred, I moved to Yan’an from Yichuan in 1940 and worked in Yan’an Lu Xun Institute of Arts and Literature as a teacher at art department, starting to creating the woodcuts to sing people’s life in Yan’an.

The first one was Listen to a Lecture, which sang the learning spirit of people in Yan’an, which would never been seen in the Kuomintang-controlled areas. When I held the Li Qun Prints Retrospective in Melbourne Australia in 1945, this work was collected by Australia National Art Gallery.

Most of comrades in Yan’an lived in the loess cave dwellings because they were warm in winter and cool in summer and the most important advantage was that it could be used as shelter to avoid enemy’s bombing due to the high kiln crowns. I engraved the woodcuts of Build Cave Dwellings to sing those builders as well as make it a permanent memory.

Helping anti-Japanese families with weeding was a political task that time. Because after the son of a family left home to fight against Japanese in the front line, there would be no young man left to do farming, therefore there was the need to help these families weeding to assure the soldiers to fighting without any worries. I also took part in


this work. The farmer with a straw hat on the picture represents a soldier’s relative. I engraved this woodcut of Help Anti-Japanese Families with Weeding to sing the close union between the red army and the people.

Later on, I engraved Drink Water to sing the beauty of hardworking, simplicity and robustness of the labor people. Drink Water has become a representative woodcutcreated in Yan’an. Comrade Cai Ruohong commented on my woodcut in his book Barefoot Heaven, “Drink Water impresses me most.” Drink Water was collected by Britain Museum in London on April 16th, 1999.

Logging depicts the life that the students at Lu Xun Institute of Arts and Literature went to Laoshan Mountain to do charcoal burning. I used to go there to visit their work and drew sketches. The forest there seemed to be anoth-er world, which impressed me very much. When I left there, I created the Series Paintings about Charcoal Burning. Among them, I like Logging most, which demonstrates the fighting spirit of the students vividly.

Then I created the woodcut of Rest based on the sketches drawn in the Qiao’er Gou to express the love of famer to the little calf. I also engraved of The Portrait of a Northern Shaanxi Girl based on the young babysitter working for my family. When it was exhibited in Yan’an Military Club, the poet of Ai Qing made his comment for it in his comment article titled The First Day that was published in Liberation Daily saying, “The techniques employed for The Portrait of a Northern Shaanxi Girl as well as the successful sketch indicated by it are invaluable. The northern Shaanxi girl’s face, nose, eyes and mouth were presented very well in an accurate and appropriate way except that her clothes are not very suitable.”

The church in Yan’an Qiao’er Gou was the place where the Spanish catholic priest preached his religion but he went away when the red army arrived at northern Shaanxi. So it became the site of Lu Xun Institute of Arts and Literature. There were guards at gate and it was easy to find out that the church was not a place for preaching any more. I often went there to have lectures about arts and ideology about Marxism. Therefore I engraved Yan’an LuYi Campus Scenery, because it was truly the scenery in Yan’an. The former name of this woodcut was Yesterday’s Church. When it was exhibited in Yan’an Military Club, Ai Qing made his comments on Liberation Daily saying, “Yesterday’s Church is the one deserves the best praise among these works. The expression technique of this works is very vivid and the vividness is in harmony with the trees in plateau and the clear air in the sky represented by this work, which made us fascinated with the landscape reproduced by the artist.” Yan’an LuYi Campus Scenery was collected by Britain Museum in London on April 16th, 1999.

Then I engraved The Portrait of a Shaanxi Old Man, Cutting Radishes and The Portrait of a Woman etc. The Por-trait of a Shaanxi Old Man was engraved based on my sketch, and Cutting Radishes was based on my sketch drawn in the field and the prototype for The Portrait of a Woman was my wife Liu Pingdu. Ai Qing said, “The Portrait of a Woman shows that there is big changes in the author’s engraving skills, which may be a new attempt by author. The picture of this work reflects a beauty of flatness and purity just like stone inscription.”

The following three portraits of foreign writers and artists were engraved per the requirements of Zhou Yang, then-vice president at Lu Xun Institute of Arts and Literature.

The first one was for Chernichofsky. He was a Russian revolutionary democrat, philosopher, literary critic and writer in 19th century; the second was for Mayakovsky, and he was a poet of the Soviet Union, who wrote the long poem Lenin to praise the revolutionary leader of Lenin; the third one was for Courbet, and he was a French realistic painter in 19th century, who participated in revolutionary activities during the Paris commune period.

The Speech on Yan’an Forum on Literature and Arts made by comrade Mao Zedong in May 1942 meant a revo-lution for my woodcuts creation. I learnt from western prints so my works characterized “Europeanization” before. People in Yan’an said the figures’ faces I produced were both black and white, so they did not like them. After the Speech, I decided to give up “Europeanization” to make my works liked by the workers, farmers and soldiers.

At that time, all the people at Lu Yi started to learn folk arts. Thus the Drama Department and the Music Department produced new yangko (a popular rural folk dance) and new opera such as Land Reclamation and The White-haired Woman. People at Art Department also started to learn folk arts, which produced Chinese New Year paintings. My woodcut The Satiated Life Picture was made based on Chinese New Year paintings. I wanted to show that a northern Shaanxi farmer’s family has sufficient food and clothing with the atmosphere of joy and happiness as the Chinese New Year is approaching, in order to distinguish the destitute life in Kuomintang-controlled areas and praise that the border areas are good places under the leadership of Communist Party.

Before that, I engraved The Portrait of Mao Zedong to show my respect to him and there was a story about it. The teachers, Zhou Libo and Chen Huangmei working at Literature Department and thought this portrait was good and pursued me to give it to Chairman Mao. So I went to Yangjialing for Chairman Mao. His secretary said, “Chairman Mao is having afternoon nap and will go for meeting after he gets up.” So I gave this woodcut portrait to him. He said, “Please rest assured. I will give it to chairman Mao.” I thought that Chairman Mao was very busy that


I should not have come here to bother him for this.About a couple of months after that, I forgot it totally. One morning, I saw dramatist comrade Zhang Gen in the

teachers’ residential area. He said, “Chairman Mao came to the drama hall and asked about you, but we could not find you.” I said, “Nonsense.” “I’m telling the truth. Chairman sat down and asked us ‘Is there a comrade named Li Qun? He gave me a woodcut portrait, so please give my thanks to him’. We looked after you around but did not find you…” Then I believed what he said. Because I was not interesting in Peking opera very much so I did not go there. What a pity! But the fact that Chairman Mao asked about me made me remember it till now.

The woodcut portrait for Mao Zedong exhibited here was modified after Yan’an Forum on Literature and Arts. Because I thought the previous face was too dark but it is bright now after modification.

The model labors meeting and culture and education meeting were held in Yan’an after 1944. At the same time, comic strip exhibition about heroes’ life and their deeds was exhibited as coordinated efforts. During the prepara-tion period for these meetings, both the teachers and the students at Lu Yi were mobilized to draw pictures. I used to participate in this kind of work twice. One task was to draw comic strip for Tao Duanyu, a hero in culture and education (a woman teacher at the Yangjialing Preliminary School). After that I chose one of them to produce a black and white woodcut named Repair Spinning Wheels for People to sing her spirit of serving people. In addition, I also engraved the comic strip for a teacher Liu Baotang into woodcuts comic strip. Among them, I chose two of them to exhibit here in memory of him.

Under the inf luence of creating and performing new Yangko by Lu Yi, the people who lived in the Qiao’er Gou where LuYi was located created new Yangko Sister-in-Law, which interested me very much. Later on when this opera was printed in offprint, I was asked to draw the illustrations for it. I engraved five small woodcuts, which are the woodcuts illustrations used in the current Sister-in-Law now. After I finished them, I published them on the Qiao’er Gou Wall Poster, which was posted on the street of Qiao’er Gou. It was popular with the people very much. It was the first time that I saw my woodcuts were loved by farmer so much since I started my career of woodcuts, which made me feel very happy and encouraged. Since Muling(Wooden Bell) Woodcuts Institute was established in 1933, we advocated that prints arts should serve the toiling masses but we never saw they liked our arts before this. So I felt pretty happy!

After the surrender of Japan, I returned to the border area between Shanxi province and Suiyuan province (“JinSui border area” for short) and was sent to the countryside of Xiaoyi County in Shanxi province in 1946. I met a skilled paper-cutting woman named Shi Guiying at Dong Xiaojing. She was about 30 years old with three kids. In addition to the routine housework, she used her spare time on weaving day and night. After I got familiar with her, I proposed to cooperate with her on paper-cutting. I did the drawing work and she did the paper-cutting. After she agreed, I drew a sketch (all outlines) according to the looks when she weaved and gave it to her. The next day when I went to her home, I found that she had made it a paper-cutting for window decoration, a very beautiful one. Shi Guiying not only cut beautiful pattern for the body of the woman who does weaving but also the patterns were di-verse and unified. Such as the “Ruyi” (It means as one’s wishes. It is an article for amusement or an accessory) on her trousers which was arranged based on the different space by her, which made “Ruyi” varied and unified. Second one wad the patterns for the upper two sides of the weaving vehicle legs, which made the weaving vehicle look beautiful and in line with the clothes pattern for the woman figure, which highlihgts the whole paper-cutting work. The most surprising thing was that I only drew one leg of the woman figure instead of two feet on the weaving loom in my manuscript due to perspectivity. While the finished paper-cutting shows two legs on the picture with one leg step-ping on the loom and the other on the ground naturally, which made the picture very beautiful. I asked her, “Is it OK to just use one leg?” She said, “Sure.” In addition, she cut hairpin for the hair of the woman, which was really pretty wonderful. I admired her high degree of aesthetic taste and praised her extraordinary talents in paper-cutting. I cherished this new paper-cutting work very much. It followed the tradition of paper-cutting for widow decoration with beautiful perspectivity and strong sense of decoration, meanwhile it showed the innovation. So it is realistic but also ideal. This paper-cutting was just like a little baby of us. Our cooperation was very successful. Both of us felt the joy of creation. No wonder that her little sister-in-law played jokes on her, “It will be perfect if Mr. Hao and you are a couple, then you can do paper-cutting all day long.” “You wicked girl do not talk nonsense!” Shi Guiying scolded jokingly, but both she and I smiled.

After 1949, I’m not sure how this paper-cutting of Weaving and Chinese woodcuts were collected in a China’s prints collection published by East Germany. Shi Guiying may still do not know her paper-cutting work was collect-ed by a foreign country.

The reason why I attached emphasis on this work is as follows: one is that it is beautiful itself and a memento for the life in librated areas; Second is that I realized my long-cherished envision by this cooperation; the third one


is that I used to underestimate the rural women’s talents and efforts on arts, but now it changed my opinion. I met an illiterate housewife but her skills were much better than I expected, which made me very happy.

I went to the Xing County in JinSui border areas from Xiaoyi County to participate the public memorial cere-mony for comrade Guan Xiangying. Guan Xiangying was born in Dalian city, Liaoning province. He was a veteran Red Army. He used to act as political commissar for the 120th division, the Eighth Route Army and the secretary of JinSui branch under the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee. When he died of illness in Yan’an in 1946, the people in the border areas of the JinSui held the public memorial ceremony for him. I engraved the The Public Memorial Ceremony for Comrade Guan Xiangying based my impression for this ceremony.

The work of Give the Horses to Others was created in 1948 when commander He Long called for giving the sur-plus horses to the poor army man’s families or martyred to help them dealing with the difficulty in production, so I created this woodcuts. After it was published on the People’s Pictorial in JinSui, Su Guang and Niu Wen criticized, “That army man’s relative or martyred on the picture was too old to do farming even though giving the horse to him.” I thought their comment was right, so I engraved once again after I finished my work for Land Reform and returned, and I made the figure “old but vigorous” and they were satisfied after seeing it. This woodcut has become one of representative works during the period I was in JinSui border areas. This work was exhibited in the first na-tional art exhibition during the national culture conference in 1949 and then selected into the New China’s Album, which was published by Shanghai Chenguang Publication Corporation.

I participated in the Land Reform in the Guo County of JinSui border areas in 1947. One year later, I went back to Xing County and created The Election Picture, for which I took the masses engaged in Land Reform in Guo Coun-ty as the figures for the picture. Later it was published on the supplement of Tianjin Daily in lithographic printing and got the praise from Deng Shu, a paintress at Central Academy of Fine Art, she thought this work was full of life. In the 12th month of lunar calendar that year, I took some of the Chinese new year pictures of Election Picture on the street for sale to see whether the masses like my works or not. The result was that I sold out all the pictures. It was really nice to hear the praise by farmers for this Election Picture by myself.

After 1949, I engraved the woodcuts of Accept the Challenge from Li Shunda to Make Production Plan when I worked in Taiyuan, which was published on People’s Daily with the praise by editor’s note. This was the first wood-cuts after I moved to Taiyuan from the old revolutionary base areas. Li Sunda was a national labor model that time and used to give a speech in the People’s Daily to challenge national farmers. My woodcuts were closely responding the production call of Li Shunda. This woodcut was created based on the sketch drawn on the meeting at the home of a labor model, which was located in the top of Xishan peak, Fujiatan, Lingshi County.

When I worked in Taiyuan in the summer of 1951, I participated in the visiting mission to the old bases in Taihang Mountain led by comrade Yang Xiufeng. There was acrobatic troupe participating in this mission and we visited the areas of Wuxiang, Zuoquan and Matian etc. Besides, comrade Shi Jiyang, the director of Shanxi Daily also participated in this mission. When the meeting started, Yang Xiufeng made a speech to the masses on behalf of Chairman Mao, and sometimes Shi Jiyan did the condolence work on behalf of Chairman Mao, and sometimes I did that. This was the only time in my life to condole with the people in the old Taihang Mountain base areas on behalf of Chairman Mao. So I created Chinese New Year picture of Representatives of Chairman Mao Visit the People in Old Taihang Mountain Base Area. On the picture, a leading cadre was putting a souvenir mental on a martyred. When I showed this rough sketch to the propaganda leader Tao Lujia, he said, “The leading cadre you drew looks like a section chief rather than an important figure. You should make him a cadre in higher rank such as secretary of provincial communist party committee.” I thought his suggestion was very good. After making further observation, study and modification, I showed him again. He said, “It is like a big head now.” But what I was satisfied most was the martyred of an elder farmer who made us feel honest, kind and plain. After this picture was published by Beijing People’s Fine Arts Publishing House, I received the innovation award (which was granted the second time) for new Chinese New Year pictures by Culture Department in 1952.

Since I was transferred to Beijing People’s Fine Arts Publishing House (People’s Arts for short) as deputy edi-tor-in-chief in 1953 and transferred to Chinese Artists Association to work as deputy editor-in-chief for the mag-azine of Arts, I worked in the office all the day so that it was difficult to leave my edition work behind to go to the countryside to have the masses’ life further and create woodcuts about farmers. But I was unwilling to give up producing woodcuts. So I bought some potted flowers from flower shops. So I engraved Lily in 1954 and Pericallis Hybrida in 1955, which were regarded my representative works for this period beyond my expectation. Then I knew that Pericallis Hybrida was exhibited in the Yugoslavia Museum. Here are comments for Lily from comrade Caomei, “it represents the pure and noble sentiments.” I was very satisfied with that. Some people criticized on newspaper that “as a communist artist, he did not present the life of workers, famers and soldiers but draw plants and flowers”


despite of the new arts policy that “All flowers should bloom together and we should develop own new arts”, which indicated that it was risky to engrave some woodcut of still life.

In the autumn of 1954, I got the opportunity to go to countryside per my repeated requirements and consent by the deputy editor-in-chief at Beijing People’s Fine Arts Publishing House. Then I together with the other ac-companying artists at People’s Arts went to do the still life paintings. We left from Handan of Hebei province for Zuoquan in Shanxi province by way of Shexian County. I was fascinated with the beautiful autumn scenery along the Qingzhang River of Shexian County, so I drew a colored ink sketch about the autumn. I engraved it into colored woodcuts Taihang Mountain Scenery after I returned to Beijing. This works was selected into China Modern Prints Exhibition to exhibit in Leningrad and Moscow, Soviet Union.

In Zuoquan, I drew a picture for an old persimmon tree with winding branches and the red persimmons on the tree after leaves falling down. When I returned to Beijing in 1957, I engraved it into colored woodcut of Dawn. I only used three colors and added the last quarter of moon at dawn, dim distant mountains and rivers at dawn as the background for the persimmon tree. I drew a farmer who wakes up early to do farming on his donkey as the foreground. His hand holds the pergola to see the daylight in the orient. There are baskets on the backs of the two donkeys, which is used for holding crops. The donkey shouts suddenly because it sees the female donkey in front of it. The scenery I drew stems from my familiarity with the rural life during my childhood. The dawn comes towards us from darkness, which is like spring in a year and the childhood in one’s life that can offer us hope as well as inspi-ration. This is the main idea that I wanted to express. Printed and published as posters, Dawn was selected into Chi-na Modern Prints Exhibition, which was exhibited in Leningrad and Moscow, Soviet Union. It was also exhibited in the Socialist Countries Layout Arts Exhibition held in Moscow in 1958. Dawn is collected by Britain Gallery now.

In the spring of 1957, I worked at the edition department of Art magazine. One day, it snowed and I went to work. After I arrived at office at upstairs, I saw the snowscape outside of the window very beautiful, so I drew a still life with inks immediately. After that, I found that the upper side of the snowscape was too flat, so I moved the small pavilion nearby to the upward of the picture and added a person wheeling his bicycle and a kid cleaning the snow, which was my woodcut of Beijing Snowscape. Beijing Snowscape etc was exhibited in the Moscow-Beijing Prints Artists’ Works Exhibition in 1958. During this exhibition in Mowscow, H.Zhukov, a famous artist in Soviet Union published his article of Good Beginning on Pravda. He made comments on Beijing Snowscape, “The warm, charming and fairy winter in China presented by artist Li Qun impressed people deeply. It looks like very ordinary scenery, but the author expressed his deep love to the life in his motherland and the city of his motherland. This kind of scenery, I think, is very nice art work, which makes us feel pleasant forever.” Beijing Snowscape was exhibited in the Socialist Countries Modeling Art Exhibition held in Moscow in 1958.

In addition to Dawn and Beijing Snowscape, I also engraved the woodcuts in 1957 such as the illustrations for the novel of Registration by Zhao Shuli and Let the Horse Have Water and Rehmannia Flower.

The content about the illustration for the Registration is as follows. Xiao Feie saw her daughter sleeping in her bed and pushed her lightly, “AiAi! Wake up!” AiAi did not wake up just turned over, with a shiny small thing slip-ping out from her pocket and fell down on the ground jingled. Xiao Feie brought the lamp to have a look, “This girl! When did you steal my Luohan coin?” The illustration was shown to Zhao Shuli. He said, “Xiao Feie’s bottom of trousers leg shall be tired up, just like the local women.” But I thought it was rustic and not good. I have not figured out what the problem is so far.

Let the Horse Have Water depicts that when leading cadre goes for a meeting, his safeguard takes the chance to take the horse to the pool for some water, which reflected the efforts made by the communist leaders for mother-land’s liberation cause. Some woodcuts artists think that Let the Horse Have Water indicates that I established my own mature style in black and white woodcuts.

Rehmannia flower refers to a medicinal material. But it is also a kind of wild flower in my hometown. I liked to pick it when I was a child, which was why I engraved it into a woodcut work.

I engraved the work of Learning in 1958 and Spring Outing, Scenery in Coal Mine Areas, Singing Outside of Willow Branches, Dianthus Chinensis, Harvest and illustrations for Red Flag Folk Song—A Newly Married Woman Visits Her Parents.

Spring Outing was engraved for the cover of Prints magazine,3rd issue,1958.Scenery in Coal Mine Areas was engraved according to my sketch which was drawn on the way from Zuoquan

to Yangquan coal mine area in 1954. It is the only one woodcut about workers produced in my whole life.The world Peace Council made a statement in 1959 to call on the global prints artists to draw based on the

subject of “Bring Peace to the World” and said an international prints match would be held in East Germany. I decided to respond by prepare to engrave a woodcut to ref lect the peace life in China. So I went to Beihai Park to


draw a picture of willow with tender leaves. Then my wife Pingdu and I together with our kids went to the Sum-mer Palace and rowed on Kunming Lake, for which I drew a sketch. At last I was inspired by the composition of Chinese paintings about f lowers and birds and produced the black and white woodcut of Singing Outside of Willow Branches. This woodcut was used for the international prints match held in Leipzig East Germany on August 1st 1959. Although no award was received for it, it was selected into the prints collection of Bring Peace to The World. A Portrait of Joliot Curie and A Portrait of Romain Rollan were also collected in this prints collection with the former one from the great Spanish artist Picasso who was also a soldier for peace and the latter one engraved by the famous Belgium prints Masereel. I did not expect that my works would be collected into the same album together with the picture by Picasso. Immediately after the Singing Outside of Willow Branches was published in German Democratic Republic, it was reprinted by an art magazine in Soviet Union. Later on, I read an article on the titles for art works an Chinese newspaper, praising the title of Singing Outside of Willow Branches. This work also was exhibited in the Fouth National Prints Exhibition and loved by the masses.

I also engraved Dianthus Chinensis. It is a kind of wild flowers with long florescence and diversity. I love it very much so I engraved it into the colored woodcuts.

The woodcut of Harvest was engraved for the cover of Prints magazine, 5th issue, 1959. It was created based on the sketch for fruit trees at Yangjiazhuang, Fenyang in 1959.

The Newly Married Woman Visits Her Parents was the illustration I produced for the Red Flag Folk Song edited by Guo Moruo and Zhou Yang during the period of Great Leap(1958－1960). Its content is as follows:

Peach blossoms bloom,Like rosy dawn,Newly married woman will visit her parents.What to put on?Pale blue trousers and bright-colored lined jacket.What to wear?A pear blossom on the temples.Who to send her there?Her husband.Who saw that?I saw that.I also heard their talk.Her husband asked:“When will you come back?”His wife lowers her head,Her face looks like a peach blossom.“Do not worry, dear,I arrive there today and return home tomorrow!So both my work in commune and study will not be affected.”

The illustration was created based on the literature work. When I produced it, there was no need to depict the colored clothes on the newly married woman because it was black and white woodcuts, but I focused on depicting the detail of “Lower her head” because she is shy. Because she is going to visit her parents, so I drew a bright-colored bundle held by her arms and put a pen into her husband’s pocket, which can make people associate them with the scene of learning knowledge themselves. I also made a little elm indicating that her husband sent her there.

I was glad that I came back too Fenyang, Shanxi in July, 1959 and went to the countryside of Shuiquan village Yudaohe. Here I saw the unique buildings and pleasing river scenery and drew sketches. Based on the sketches, I created the colored woodcut of The Commune Cadres after Meeting and Return from the Fields in 1960. The former one was published on the selective prints periodicals of People’s Daily. On the picture, I drew the village cadres besides the buildings went home in a hurry after commune cadre meeting. Among them, there is one cadre who puts a little pig on his rear bicycle seat in order to enhance the atmosphere of the meeting. Return from the Fields is designed to present that a farmer does farming work in the sun and when he sees the clear and cool river on his way back, he uses the water to wash off all his sweat. What a pleasant thing it is!

I also engraved the colored woodcut of A Woman Commune Member, which was created based on a woman’s face portrait drawn at my hometown many years ago. A Canadian paintress Page Kolter and her husband Stan took


a visit to my home in 1987.After seeing my prints, she bought A Woman Commune Member because she liked it.In 1961, tens of thousands people in Beijing were sent to countryside during the movement of rectifying the so-

cial mode and communes. About ten people from China Federation of Literary and Art Circles led by me were sent to the countryside of Wuzhong city, Ningxia for this work. In order to understand the life of commune members, I used to live at Zaoyuan production brigade for some time. I often had a walk along the Yellow Rive and see the wild geese flying. I also saw farmers planting. So I created colored ink woodcut of The Sound of Drill Barrows Spread over the Yellow River, which characterize Chinese ink paintings.

The Song for Autumn was based on the silver birch branches drawn on my trip to Jingyuan, Ningxia, but I added two crested mynas. I used to borrow two crested mynas for students’ reference at the prints training class. I drew them staying on the branch of silver birch. Because crested mynas are good at singing, so this picture is named The Song for Autumn.

We almost needed to have meeting every night at that time and we had meetings in this room for more than one year. Therefore, I created Spring Night. There was no pear tree in the yard, but when I started to produce it, I moved it from outside the yard to the inside of it to avoid a monotonous picture. I also drew two pairs of drill bar-rows, which can make people imagine that the meeting is about planting in spring. After some snow, it suddenly gets clear with the moon in the sky. Pear tree has sprouted to bloom in the warm spring. There are many bicycles in the yard, indicating that there are many cadres coming for meeting. After I finished this woodcut, I found that all the bicycles are for men, not for the “half sky” (i.e. women). So I engraved one more time and added a bicycle for women at the most obvious position. Then the Spring Night was finally finished. When the Spring Night was exhibited in Beijing, I got the praise from oil painter comrade Chang Shuhong, and he thought it had the effects of oil paintings. This work was collected by China Gallery. The critic Liu Xilin used to comment Spring Night at an academic seminar saying, “This prints is to present the scene that the cadres in villages are having meeting. He did not draw the scene inside of the meeting room but that outside of the meeting room with moonlight on the house. The warm spring can be felt. This is the indirect depiction, which is highly arctic and also reflects his reverse way of thinking.” I felt it was impossible to achieve the aesthetic arctic conception without the moon in the sky. It derived from my life. When I lived in the commune, I often went to the fruits garden outside of the commune to have a walk at twilight in early spring. It got clear after rain with the moon on the tip of pear tree branch in the clear sky and so I was impressed deeply by this atheistic arctic conception. Therefore, I drew the moon for Spring Night.

People plant rice seeds into paddy field rather than transplanting rice seedlings in Ningxia, which is called “Langdao”. It is regarded extensive cultivation. When rice gets ripe, people will put up a shed nearby the field and live there. I drew a sketch and then engraved it into the woodcut of Rice Harvest Season.

To seek the themes for creation, I travelled to many places in Ningxia for still life. When I passed by Tongxin, I stayed at a farmer’s home. The next day when I got up, I found it snowed heavily last night. So I drew the snows-cape in the sunshine after snow, which is satisfactory. After I returned to Yinchuan, I engraved the woodcut of After Snow, which is popular with the masses. I drew two magpies in the azure sky flying towards the trees. We can faintly see the crowd going out and walking on the mountain road after snow with one woman in red riding on her donkey and holding her baby. There is a brook for the near view with a magpie nearby the brook looking for something to eat. I used pink to present the snowscape in the sunshine. The warm tune makes the whole picture a sense of vitality and freshness.

The colored woodcut of The Portrait of a Maiden was engraved based on the sketch for a girl named Cao Huili who came to Ningxia from Shanghai to support the construction for the border area during the period of holding prints training class. I made it to set an example to the trainees on the prints training class. Also I love this woodcut very much.

The Spring of Ningxia depicts that a Han old man and a Hui old man are repairing a drill barrow to prepare for the planting in spring. The grains missed in the gaps of the drill barrow all fall down to the ground after knocking it. So I drew a white cock pecking them on a corner of the picture. It makes sense to have a cock there in addition to meet the need by the composition. I drew a peach tree in bud for background to show the “spring”. To make the picture have some changes, I drew half black and half white. I was very skilled in use of the black and white, which is up to me.

Besides the Stream was engraved based on the sketch I drew when I went to the countryside of Yudaohe, Fen-yang, Shanxi in 1959. There was clear spring running all the year with green grass on the both sides of the river. It was very quiet in summer, so I drew the sketch for aquatic plants and engraved into the black and white woodcut of Besides the Stream. Niu Wen saw it and liked it. Besides, the plant of “Xiangrenren”(a kind of sweet wild flower) was my friend during my childhood, which makes me feel warm. I also drew a dragonfly for the picture to make it


more vivid.After I returned to Beijing from Ningxia, I and Pingdu and my kids went to the Summer Palace one day. I

drew a sketch for the wild grape at the back mountain and engraved the colored woodcut of Wild Grape after back to home. Wang Zhaowen was very interested in it when it was exhibited on the Joint Prints Exhibition by Li Qun, Huang Xinbo and Yang Nawei at China art gallery in 1963.

I was very cautious on the coloring for the colored woodcuts for many years, and I prefer to be honest to the natural color of the scenery and plants. But I got inspired when I saw the paintings of Chinese flowers and birds by Qi Baishi who had the courage to make the leaves of lotus the ink color and the bright pink lotus magenta. So when I produced Wild Grape, I made the green leaves ultra marine blue. By using the black color as the background, the leaves match with the red wild grape very well, and this was novel and innovative. Because the large block of black background among the branches give people sense of emptiness, so I engraved some little dots for decoration. This kind of dot does not represent anything, just for the need by the picture. When I heard the “Ai Youyou” in the lyrics of folk songs later, I called the dots on the picture of “AiYouyou”. It is abstract. I personally oppose to the abstract arts school, because it can neither reflect life nor express the main ideas, which makes people feel confused. While I think it is OK to use the abstract techniques for the realistic painting, just like the “Ai Youyou” used by the folk songs.

Dense Forest and Strong Sheep was created based on my imagination in 1962. I learnt from the paper-cutting to engrave two small triangles on the sheep’s body for decoration, which was often used by paper-cutting. Besides, I used the broken lines for the branches and leaves of silver birches and the dianthus chinensis, which was the tech-nique for Hunan’s printed calico, to add the sense of decoration for the picture. According to my experience, we can learn from other similar arts rather than direct copy, and we can use some of its techniques in order to make them organic part of my own works. Otherwise, the works will be just imitation. Dense Forest and Strong Sheep become one of my representative works when I was sent to Ningxia.

In 1962, I created the colored print of Spring Comes to The Mountain based on the sketch of residential houses drew in Jingyuan, Ningxia. I drew some apricots in blossom among the houses, which indicates spring comes. I depict a farmer drives his ox cart to plough his field. I want to present the scene of prosperity by people who are busy with planting in the warm spring.

I created the colored watermark woodcut of February based on the sketch drawn in the city of Wuzhong. On the picture, the members of commune drive ox carts to transport fertilizer to the field when early spring comes. Magpies fly over the river to welcome the coming of the spring.

The colored woodcut of A Sweet Garden with Lotus and Night Breeze was created in the Garden of Harmonious Interest, Longevity hill in 1962 based on my sketch. I like the pinewood behind the Garden of Harmonious Interest, so I drew the pinewood in an obvious position. In the foreground, there is white water lily to correspond to the white cloud in the sky. I just used two color plates to produce this scenery picture chromatically. I like it myself.

Sprout was engraved into colored woodcut in 1963 based on my sketch drawn during the trip to Jingyuan, Ningxia. The so called sprouts refer to the seedlings of winter wheat. Because I often saw this kind of green seedlings during my childhood, so I have a feeling for it, so I engraved it into colored woodcut. Those trees were drawn when I was in Jingyuan.

The woodcut of Water Wheat to Fight against Drought was created based on my work when I participated in the Four Spiritualization in Qufu county, Shandong province. The Four Spiritualization movement refers to sort out political issues, economic issues, organization issues and ideology issues, which were called socialism education movement. One year later after I worked in Qufu, I returned to Beijing to participate in the preparation work for Exhibition for Chinese New Year Paintings and Prints for North China, so I traveled across the whole North China to provide suggestions for the artists on how to modify Chinese New Year paintings and prints. So there was no time left for me to produce works. At last, I engraved the black and white woodcut of Water Wheat to Fight against Drought based on the sketch drawn in the Dongjiaogou, Qufu and it was exhibited in the Prints Exhibition for North China in 1966.Today we still can feel the highly motivated farmers presented by this woodcuts.

Summer was created during I was sent to my hometown to do forest planting in the later period of Culture Revolution in 1970. It depicts the woman commune members are busy with spraying pesticide to kill pests for the crops. It is rural scenery in hot summer. I drew some wild purple flowers at the sides of the river to make the picture more beautiful.

Dig A Pool was created based on the material gained from Dazhai in Xiyang county with the purpose of pre-senting the fearless fighting spirit possessed by the people in Dazhai that nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets his mind to it.


Premier Zhou Enlai died of illness on Jan 8th 1976. In memory of him, I engraved The Portrait of Premier Zhou in 1977.

The woodcut of The Yangtz River Scenery was created in 1979 based on the sketches many years ago. I like the buildings at Yangtz River. This work was exhibited on the Sixth National Prints Exhibition on Nov 8th that year at China Gallery.

After the efforts of conciliation by Han Huimin, I was invited to teach the prints class in Yili, Xinjiang in late July of 1978. So I had a chance to travel in northern Xinjiang and southern Xinjiang and drew many sketches for prints. I created New City in Sight based on my life in Yili, which depicts two girls of Uygur are carrying out street surveying and mapping on the roof of a house to indicate new city is under construction.

Summer of Tianshan was created based on my sketch drawn in the forest of Xinyuan Tree Farm, Xinjiang in 1980. When I engraved it, I didn’t want to use the realistic color, but used the tune of color for caisson pattern of Dunhuang grottoes. I used the ultramarine for the brush and green for sky to make the picture with extraordinary color effects. There are many tazons on the picture dotted with clear waterfall. Besides, I also drew two deer drink-ing with white tents in the distant forest that is where lumbermen live. I use all these details to express the beauty of thick forest and clear air in the summer of Tianshan.

Clear Spring was created based on my sketch drawn in Xinjiang. I was interested in spring since I was a child. I wanted to use the Clear Spring Running on the Stone, a verse written by Wang Wei (a poet in Tang Dynasty), but I changed it to Clear Spring for simplicity. I used to think that western woodcuts characterize black blocks, so I tried my best to reduce the black blocks in the woodcuts by using more embossment lines. But when I thought about the calligraphy and the rubbings in the stone tablets, I realized that not all of Chinese ancient prints were the same as the illustrations in the Outlaws of Marsh Land due to the intaglio lines in the black base. So I used large black blocks to serve as a folio to the white spring. It was kind of Chinese style, wasn’t it? I drew aquatic plants besides the spring to make the picture not monotonous. It is logical, because there would be plants besides water. But this plant must be appropriate to show on the picture, because not each kind of plants is appropriate for that. It happened that I drew sketches for a kind of aquatic plant drawn in the Yudaohe, Fenyang, Shanxi province before, which was appropriate for the picture. It can not only make the picture vivid but also enhance its artistic conception. After finalized, I brought them to the art association for their comments. Comrade Nie Yunting saw it and said, “It would be better if the plants swing with the wind.” I accepted this invaluable suggestion and made modification that plants swing with the wind. I drew nine manuscripts for Clear Spring. After I engraved it to the woodcut, I think it was a woodcut of Chinese style.

Not only my works of Clear Spring but also the works of Borrow the South China Sea Wind by Yang Nawei produced in 1962 was created by the influence of the rubbings of stone tablets, which added the diversity to the Chinese prints. When My Clear Spring, In the Woods and Deer Park were exhibited on the Joint Prints Exhibits for Beijing, Guangdong and Shanxi that year, my classmate Wang Zhaomin, a watercolor artist liked Clear Spring very much after seeing it, which he thought was better than In the Woods. Clear Spring was exhibited on the Exhibition for 50th Anniversary of Chinese Emerging Woodcuts at culture centre of Grenoble on March 5th 1981 held by French and China Friendship Association. It was a chance for it to show up in French. Regarding this exhibition, the book of Categories was published, which was also an album with my woodcut of Clear Spring taking 4/5 of its cover. Besides, Clear Spring was printed into posters to be posted everywhere in Grenoble. I guessed that the main reason that French people liked it may be due to its very obvious Chinese style.

Spring Breeze was created based on my feeling when I appraised and selected the good works in completion at the Taiyuan South Culture Center. I found by accident that the willows outside still swing in the winter wind, which was of artistic conception, so I drew the sketches and then engraved the colored woodcut of Spring Breeze. During the process of creation, I moved the willows to the sides of Fenhe River, and added many sparrows that were having fun, which contributed to the joyful and vivid scene on the picture. Xishan Mountain is in the distance with the white frozen Fenhe river behind the house comes in sight faintly. It was the cloud in early spring that serves as folio to the willow branches. So I named it Spring Breeze.

Deer Park was created based on the sketch for the deer in Taiyuan Zoo. But I put it aside after I finished the layout of it with pencil. Probably it was not good time to create the woodcut with this kind of theme, so I did not dare to engrave. It was the 4th National Culture Meeting that freed my mind, and then I started to engrave again. As what was said in Congratulation Speech by comrade Deng Xiaoping, as long as people can get educated and inspired and enjoy its fun and beauty offered by the arts, they should all have its own position in our culture section, which supported and encouraged me, so I drew it a black and white woodcut manuscript based on the sketch drawn by pencil, and then I engraved it to woodcut boldly with strong sense of decoration and a little trace of perspectivity in


1980. It was one more black and white woodcut after Clear Spring, with the style of rubbings in the stone tablets. It was exhibited in the China’ Prints Exhibition in Denmark in 1983.

The motivation to create the Golden Fish was that I wanted to draw faience in Yangshao Culture for my wood-cuts. One of flowerpots on the flower-stand was drawn based on a excavation faience in Jincun village, Wanquan county, Shanxi. The pattern on the little girl’s clothes was drawn based on the excavation faience’s pattern in Xi Xieqiao, Shan county, Henan province. I drew these because I love the faience arts made by our ancestors. It was an attempt to draw them for my woodcuts. This woodcut was one of the works that were created based on the rubbings on stone tablets. I engraved the flowerpot woodcut into bookplate in 2004, which was called Bonsai.

In the Woods was created in my later life, which was the most popular one among the masses. It was at 69 years old that I drew this picture. How was I inspired and created? I love squirrels since I was very young and played with it very often. We called it “Maogeli” in my hometown, and it was a very lovely animal. I kept it in the cage when I was in my later life. I returned from Xinjiang in 1978 and it was late autumn when I passed by Lujishan when I saw a squirrel running on the tree with all of leaved falling down to the ground. I was motivated to produce In the Woods. After I was back, I drew the sketch and nailed it into the wall. My little daughter saw it and said, “Daddy, the squirrel you drew is not lovely at all.” I thought maybe I drew it in a very realistic way, so I modified it and made its tail very big in an exaggerated way till my little daughter said, “Now the squirrel is very lovely.” Then I engraved it into the woodcut of In the Woods. When prints artists held a meeting in Huangshan, someone saw In the wood at the demonstration meeting and said, “Li Qun is not old at all!” in spited of the fact that I was 69 that time. When Li Qun Prints Exhibition to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Left-winged Culture Movement was held at Tai-yuan Labors’ Culture Center on March 30th, 1980, I took the opportunity to test votes for my works with the results of In the Woods gaining the most votes of 90 in all. It was collected by French National Library in 1983. It was also exhibited in six foreign countries such as Tanzania and Ghana.

When Li Qun and Gu Yuan Prints Exhibition were held in Changchun in the August of 1980, we were arranged to live in a superior Nanhu Hotel. It was very big with a fabulous garden, so it was really a pleasure to have a walk here after I got up. I found that there were tall elm trees with its branches falling down, which was lyric scenery. So I made a sketch and engraved a black and white woodcut of Summer Wind, with which I was satisfied very much. Besides, I added one goat tied to the tree for this picture. This work can be regarded as one of the most important things gained by this trip to the northeast of China. This goat indicates that the elm tree does not grow on the mountain but nearby the fields.

On the way traveled from Beifang Shibazhan to Tahe River in Heilongjiang provinceon on 29th September, 1980, with the prints artist Du Hongnian, I drew a sketch for the red-haired willow scrub in the marsh at the side of Humahe River. After I went back to Taiyuan,I engraved it into the colored The Early Spring in North China in 1981, which was exhibited on Spring Salon Art Show held in Paris, French in 1982. The Summer Wind and The Early Spring in North China created during this trip to northeast China were regarded as one of my representative works in 1980s.

In February of 1981, I was invited by comrade Wang Qiong, a prints artist in Hunan province, to go to Chang-sha and give lectures. One day, we took a boat to visit Dongting Lake. On the way back, I saw willows to sprout and green grass on the sides of the lake, by which I was inspired. So after I went back to my hotel, I drew the first draft for the colored woodcut of Spring Comes to Dongting Lake.

During this trip to Hunan, I took a visit to the zoo in Changsha accompanied by Chen Baiyi and I drew the sketch for red pandas. In the yard of the hotel, I drew the sparse branches of plane trees. After I went back to Taiyu-an, I engraved the colored woodcut of Red Pandas. I preferred red pandas rather than giant pandas, because giant pandas are clumsy while red pandas are lovely. This picture was exhibited in the China’ Prints Exhibition held in Denmark in 1983. There was a locust tree in front of our gate as I was a child, for which I had a lot of memories. I used to see magpies to build their nests on this locust tree with the mouths holding the branches and grass in order to prepare to have baby magpies. According to my impression, I engraved the woodcut of Early Spring in 1981.

“Qiaolulu Flower” is the name what was called in my hometown, and I do not know its name botanically. It is a kind of wild flowers. As was described in my book of My Paradise, “Red peach blossoms bloom with blue viola tricolors and purple Qiaolulu flower scattered in the grass of the peach garden. Young girls and I are picking them while singing folk songs ‘Qiaolulu flower, a good girl marries to the mouse.’” I engraved it to the black and white woodcut based on the sketch I drew at my hometown in 1982 while it shows some kind of style of modernist school.

Han Meimei, the figure in the novel by Ma Feng, was not admitted to a middle school after primary school and volunteered to take the work of feeding pigs for the commune, which made her suffered the insults from her father and discrimination from the people in the village. But under the instruction by her teacher of LvPing, she insists on


doing that and finally she does great job and is selected as the model in the commune. My illustration depicts that she is feeding pigs.

Uncle Zhao, the breeder in the novel of Ma Feng is an interesting man with great sense of responsibility. His love for the livestock is the same as to his children, which is very touching. My illustration depicts that he is feeding the livestock.

Zhao Mantun, the figure in Ma Feng’s novel, nickname of “San Nian Zao Zhi Dao” (means he knows the future things three years earlier), is one member of the commune with backward ideas. When Li Ergui, a skilled breeding man working at Chenguan agriculture cooperative, is driving that Berkshire pig to Taipingzhuang village for breed-ing by way of Zhenjiazhuang village, Zhao Mantun made a fool of him by lighting cigarette for him, boiling water and making tea for him. He takes the chance of going outside to fetching some firewood and secretly drives the Berkshire pig to the sow sty next door to make them mate .Then he pretends to pee outside to make that pig return to the original place. My illustration depicts that he is driving the Berkshire pig to the sow’s sty next door secretly.

Wedding Party, a novel by Ma Feng,depicts that the Wang Shuanniu,the leading character in this novel is driv-ing two oxen, which makes cars blocked on the way. So the drivers honk the horns, but he ignores that and does not intend to drive the oxen to the side of road to make way for them. My illustration depicts this scene.

In my essay of My Paradise, I wrote The Story of Snake with the following description, When a flock of sheep concentrates on having grass, one of them suddenly baas. Uncle Zhang thinks it was not a good thing and guesses its mouth must be beaten by snake again. So he immediately brings out the little leather tube and takes out the medicine needle to give its mouth a shot and squeeze the blood, which will make it better soon. Snake has run away though. My illustration depicts this scene.

In the August of 1980, I participated in the Li Qun and Gu Yuan Prints Exhibition held in Changchun. I took this chance to have a visit to the famous Changbai Mountain. Changbai Mountain is a very beautiful scenic spot in the north China. The birches here are not white birches, but betula ermaniis. Its trunk is not straight but crooked, but its leaves are the same as that of white birches, so I drew sketches. After I went back to Taiyuan, I engraved the woodcut of Besides the Lake by adding a small boat in 1983 based on the sketch.

During my sojourn in Qingdao in 1981, I drew a sketch for striped snapper at its aquarium. Then I added aquatic plants for it and engraved the colored woodcut of The Image of Happy Fishes with the paper-cutting style in 1983.

It was the Mid-autumn Day on 23rd September, 1980. The woodcut artist Du Hongnian and I came to the side of Heilongjiang River. The leaves of birches and white poplars had turned yellow. Contrasted by the distant sky-blue mountains, these trees made the scenery at Heilongjiang River very beautiful and made me intoxicated. After I returned to Taiyuan, I engraved the colored woodcut of The Autumn of Heilongjiang River based on my sketches drawn that time in 1984. The other side of the river is Soviet Union’s “Observation Stand”. Both parties were using telescopes to observe the actions of both sides.

In the summer of 1982, as a committee member of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles (CFLAC), I went to Lushan,Jiangxi province to participated in the reading meeting held by CFLAC. Most of trees on Lushan Mountain are plane trees. Someone told me that plane tree was also called platanus acerifolia, which I thought was a good name. The platanus acerifolia on Lushan Mountain interested me very much. Its withes hang down and are full of big thick leaves like human’s palms. When the wind blows, withes with layers of leaves is just like rocs spreading its wings and a girl dancing in the wind in green, very vivid. I drew the sketches and engraved the colored woodcut of Platanus Acerifolia, which was exhibited on the Ninth National Prints Exhibition, and then together with the black and white woodcut of Early Spring exhibited on the Ljubljana International Prints Exhibition in Yugoslavia in 1987.

Early Spring was created according to my imagination in 1986. I engraved the willows in winter for study purpose and then engraved this woodcut. But after it was finished, I felt it has the arctic conception of landscape paintings.

Covet was created based on the sketch for a cat of my friend when I visited his home in 1986.Return Home at Sunset in Early Spring was created based on the sketch for the branches by adding the round

moon, birds, two oxen and the man who leads the oxen as foreground.Farmland Guard was created based on the sketch for a little owl I kept. I also used the intaglio for the rubbings

of stone tables.In the summer of 1984, as a committee member of CFLAC, I participated in the visit to Guilin, and I drew

many sketches. In 1989, I engraved one colored woodcut of Guilin Scenery based on the sketches. On the picture, there is distant mountain and fishing boat as well as plantains as foreground.


Mount North Wudang is located in the Fangshan County, Shanxi province, which is a part of Lvliang Moun-tain and made of granite. I had a tour here in 1991 with comrade Hou Kejie as my guide, because he was the general manager with LvLiang Tourism Development Corporation who used to receive Wang Zhaowen and Wu Guanzhong. I spent one night at the grotto and arrived at Zhenwu Temple next day. Then during going down the mountain, I faced towards Zhenwu Temple and made some sketches of mountain at Guisheling, based on which I produced the colored woodcut of Mount North Wudang in 1991. On this picture, I added a magpie that is flying to make it look vivid.

Twilight was created based on my feeling when I was in the train carriage on my way back to Taiyuan from Beijing in 1992. When the train passed by Shijiazhuang city, it was at dust. I saw the poetic beautiful twilight outside of the window, which looked like a colored print. After I arrived at Taiyuan, I started to draw it and showed it to my peers. And after several modifications, I finally engraved the colored woodcut of Twilight. But I added a magpie in the sky that returns to its nest very late.

As for China Rose, to make the picture have some changes, I used both the intaglio and embossment to make it both opposite and complementary. Besides, I did it in order to use the black to serve as a foil to the white flower to highlight it.

I engraved the colored woodcut of Lilac in 2000 according to the sketch I drew in Taiyuan Steles Forest. The Tree Branches in Winter was engraved to the colored woodcut based on the branches of trees that I drew in

my sketch book. But I added birds, mountain and water as background.Pinewood was created based on my imagination.In the summer of 1962 when I was sent to Ningxia, I engraved the colored woodcut of A Returned Shepherd

Boy. Because I saw the child took his mules to go home in the heavy wind, which was very touching. So I engraved this picture. But one of the mules I engraved was relatively big, which was not good. So I modified the original picture in 2002 and engraved again till my satisfaction, which is the Shepherd Boy Goes to Home exhibited here.

The Families besides the Yellow River was engraved to a colored woodcut in 2003 based on the sketch I drew in Shuokou, Lin County, Shanxi province years ago. Shuokou is just besides the Yellow River. I crossed the Yellow River from Shuokou when I went to Jinsui border areas from Yan’an. Now I engraved it to the The Families besides the Yellow River in memory of the Yellow River. I added some apricot flowers in blossom to both make the families besides the Yellow River more beautiful, besides it can change the dull tune of the picture.

I had been engaged in Chinese emerging realistic woodcuts for 70 years from 1933 to 2003. I produced about one hundred and thirty works in all. After selection and elimination, now there are one hundred and twenty-three works exhibited here for you.

August 20th, 2005Xiangtang Village, Suburb of Beijing

Plate Index图版索引


鱼乐图

The Image of Happy Fishes

2019

夏风Summer Wind

抗战Fighting

天山之夏Summer of Tianshan

毛泽东像The Portrait of Comrade Mao Zedong

黎明Dawn

6

10

15

7

11

16

鲁迅像The Portrait of Lu Xun

林间In the Woods

87

春到洞庭湖Spring Comes to Dongting Lake

17

小熊猫Red Pandas

18

听报告Listen to a Lecture

8

饮Drink Water

9

林茂羊肥Dense Forest and Strong Sheep

1413

帘外歌声Singing Outside of Willow Branches

力群 | 图版索引 Plate Index

National Artworks Collected & Donated Project国家美术作品收藏和捐赠系列：力群·彦涵·王琦

图书在版编目（ＣＩＰ）数据

国家美术作品收藏和捐赠系列 . 力群·彦涵·王琦 / 谭平主编 . — 北京：

文化艺术出版社，2018. 3

ISBN 978-7-5039-6394-0

Ⅰ. ① 国⋯ Ⅱ. ① 谭⋯ Ⅲ. ① 美术－作品综合集－中国－现代 ② 版

画－作品集－中国－现代 Ⅳ. ① J121 ② J227

中国版本图书馆 CIP 数据核字（2017）第 281274 号

主编谭平

项目统筹孙亚平

出版统筹陶玮

项目执行李晓冬宋立堂

资料整理贾雷刘兆霏王建红姚旭光

文字编选吴士新

英文翻译申淼

责任编辑梁一红赵月

书籍设计龙佑玟

出版发行

地址北京市东城区东四八条 52 号（100700）

网址 www.caaph.com

电子邮箱 [email protected]

电话（010）84057666 （总编室） 84057667 （办公室）

84057696—84057699 （发行部）

传真（010）84057660 （总编室） 84057670 （办公室）

84057690 （发行部）

经销新华书店

印刷北京雅昌艺术印刷有限公司

版次 2018 年 3 月第 1 版

印次 2018 年 3 月第 1 次印刷

开本 635 毫米 ×1000 毫米 1/8

印张 34.25

字数 334 千字图片 48 幅

书号 ISBN 978-7-5039-6394-0

定价 498.00 元（全三册）

版权所有，侵权必究。如有印装错误，随时调换。

national artworks -...

Documents