NYC: Asia Society - Art and China's Revolution - Rent Collection Courtyard

NYC: Asia Society - Art and China's Revolution - Rent Collection Courtyard, originally uploaded by wallyg.

Rent Collection Courtyard is a tableau of 114 sculptures originally created in 1965 by teachers and students from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute. The sculptures illustrate the payment of grain by farmers in Sichuan province to their landlord. The obvious exploitation of the peasants here is designed to remind viewers of the unfairness of feudal China, thereby providing justification for revolution. The original sculptures toured extensively throughout China and reproductions were made, including this 1974 version. It is said that the work was seen by two million visitors. In a testament to the work’s iconic status, contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang staged his own recreation entitled Venice’s Rent Collection Courtyard at the 1999 Venice Biennale, where it won the Golden Lion Prize. Art and China's Revolution, on exhibit at the Asia Society and Museum from September 5, 2008 to January 11, 2009, was the first-ever exhibition to focus on the revolutionary spirit of Mao's China from the 1950s through 1970s. Bringing together large-scale oil paintings, ink scroll paintings, artist sketchbooks, posters, and objects from everyday life -- many seen for the first time in the United States -- the exhibition was a comprehensive, in-depth presentation of this historical period.

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