Struggle on the Front Line
Returned to lender
This work of art was on loan to the museum and has since been returned to its lender.Created during the Cultural Revolution, this print from the politically charged series The Furnace Fire Is Even Redder illustrates the production of iron and steel in the Angang model factory in Liaoning Province, in northeast China. The Angang Constitution, enacted in 1960 for the corporation’s management, embodied the Communist ideology regarding shared labor among all personnel. Here, a manager and a manual laborer work together at the furnace.
Typical of Cultural Revolution graphic art in the 1970s, heroic figures are placed at the center of a large, dramatic composition. The predominant red color is symbolic of Communist zeal and also represents a realistic rendering of the workplace.
Typical of Cultural Revolution graphic art in the 1970s, heroic figures are placed at the center of a large, dramatic composition. The predominant red color is symbolic of Communist zeal and also represents a realistic rendering of the workplace.
Artwork Details
- Zhandou zai diyixian, luhuo geng hong zhi er
- Title: Struggle on the Front Line
- Artist: Attributed to Li Jingfang (Chinese, born 1935)
- Date: 1974
- Culture: China
- Medium:
Etching with aquatint, color on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 19 5/16 x 31 1/8 in. (49 x 79 cm)
Overall: 29 13/16 x 44 15/16 in. (75.7 x 114.2 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: On loan from the British Museum
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art