Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Barbaric Bombardment
Zhang Hui Chinese
Not on view
This print presents a bird’s-eye view of the Japanese bombing of Guangzhou between August 1937 and October 1938. The horror of modern warfare is summed up by the two bombers dashing toward the viewer above the chaotic city. The close-up of dead children in the lower right corner epitomizes the crime against humanity.
A native of Guangdong Province, Zhang Hui entered Shanghai Art College in 1930 and began making woodblock prints in about 1932. His early works reflect the influence of the Belgian printmaker Frans Masereel (1889–1972). In response to the Sino-Japanese War (1937–45), he started the journal Woodcut Battleground to advance resistance efforts.
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