Page 23 - Studio International - January February 1975

can be harmonized with nature. But the
painter's attitude to tradition is at the
same time tentative. In passing on his
knowledge to raise the cultural level of
the population, he is afraid of also passing
on academic and formalist attitudes.
Only painters who are not afraid of this
are going to be able to draw deeply on the
old traditions and really transform them.
In Canton I had an interview with
Kuan Shan-yueh, one of China's best-
known landscape painters, who made the
panoramic mountain pictures in the
Great Hall of the People in Peking. He
was very enthusiastic about the work of
the growing number of spare-time
artists. He maintained that professional
artists must learn from their example,
must learn above all from their 'clear
attitude'. 'They know the thinking, the
life of the masses', he said, 'because they
come from the front line of production.'
The growth of spare-time art is indeed
closely linked with the growth cf
production; both are expressions of the
leap in self-confidence that the workers
and peasants of China have made in
gaining control of their own lives and
changing the actual landscape. The
amateur peasant painters of Huhsien
county in Shensi province, whose works
have been publicized all over the country,
reproduced and made into postage
stamps, are a clear example. They began
painting to accompany the building of a
reservoir by the commune in 1958.
Professional painters have given some
technical help and their work has
developed.
To the outsider the Huhsien paintings
give a detailed record of how the
Chinese peasants see themselves today.
Their style is ingenious and lively. Except
in a few cases they have avoided all
Socialist Realist stereotypes. Colour,
13