Voting with Beans, Choosing a Good Candidate
The Modern Woodcut Movement is an important but understudied chapter in the history of twentieth-century Chinese art. The movement was initiated by Lu Xun (1881–1936), the father of modern Chinese literature and an incisive cultural critic, who saw woodcut as the ideal medium for rousing what he saw as a complacent China from its slumber to face up to the challenges of the modern world. Easily produced from inexpensive materials and with relatively limited training, woodcut was seen as a counterpoint to the precious erudition of literati landscape painting. The medium was used extensively during the 1930s and ‘40s—by both Communist and Nationalist leaders—to disseminate political messages in a graphically impactful, legible form. Some of the most iconic vignettes from the War of Resistance (against Japan, 1937–45) and the Chinese Civil War (1945–49) were produced in this medium. The current set of prints were produced in the Communist milieu—at Yan’an, the mountain stronghold in northern Shaanxi Province that served as the capital of the Communist government during the 1940s.
Artwork Details
- Title: Voting with Beans, Choosing a Good Candidate
- Artist: Xiao Su (Zhao Keren) (Chinese, born 1919)
- Period: Republic period (1912–49)
- Date: 1930s and 1940s
- Culture: China
- Medium: Woodcut print, ink on paper
- Dimensions: Image: 5 1/2 × 7 5/8 in. (14 × 19.4 cm)
Sheet: 5 5/8 × 7 3/4 in. (14.3 × 19.7 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Purchase, Friends of Asian Art Gifts, 2022
- Object Number: 2022.394
- Curatorial Department: Asian Art
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
China
Stele: Song dynasty (960–1279), 960–68; rubbing: 20th century
Shinoda Tōkō
1982
Shinoda Tōkō
1984
Yi Yong-u (artist name: Mungno)
probably 1940s
Inoue Yūichi
1966
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.