Raging Tide I: Struggle
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.The pathetically strained bodies, set against an open vista of despairingly barren land, seem frozen in agony. The print is deeply indebted in its subject and composition to the Peasants’ War series by the German Expressionist Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945). Yet Li Hua achieved an even greater visual intensity by maximizing light effects and employing engraving techniques.
Li Hua assumed a leadership role in the first stage of the Modern Woodcut Movement in the early 1930s, creating some of the most iconic woodblock prints of the prewar period. His early fascination with German Expressionism lasted into his mature work.
Li Hua assumed a leadership role in the first stage of the Modern Woodcut Movement in the early 1930s, creating some of the most iconic woodblock prints of the prewar period. His early fascination with German Expressionism lasted into his mature work.
Artwork Details
- Nuchao zhiyi: Zhengzha
- Title: Raging Tide I: Struggle
- Artist: Li Hua (Chinese, 1907–1994)
- Date: 1947
- Culture: China
- Medium: Woodblock print; oil based ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 7 11/16 x 10 5/8 in. (19.5 x 27 cm)
Overall: 22 x 16 in. (55.9 x 40.6 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: On loan from the British Museum
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art