Works Of Art In The 1950s Harvest Theme In Historical Context

The sculptures on National Agriculture Exhibition Hall's square are created under the state's control in later of 20c 50's. Though they have clear titles of Long Live of People Community Combined with Workers, Farmers, Soldiers, Students, and Merchants and Long Live of People Community Roundly Developing of Agriculture, Forestry, Herd, Parergon and Fishery, in fact they represent the cover-up topic of the agriculture foison of the new Republic of China. This paper tries to deepen the cognition and research on the new state's art history through analyzing this case, giving a clear description to the history context of the creation and approval of the huge sculpture. For this purpose, the author made the most of the historical documents at that time and the oral sources from four artists who had participated in the creating course. The author also applied the method of Culture Study, interpreting the sculpture on the base of replacing it into the new national state and the special history situation, searching for the deep connections of its exhibit location, subject and expression style, and discussing these topics with the relations in such fields as modern state, dominant ideology, economic construction, political history and so on. The paper's conclusion is that the need and recognition of agriculture from a new socialism country are precondition of the appearance of the sculptures; the State's attitude of how to increase the agriculture yield greatly affects the proposition of the sculptures; while the same international circumstance and political background unified the problem of nationalization of sculpture and the emphasize of agriculture foison from the state, they all having a great deal to do with the nice hope of the new state that it yearned for becoming more mightier and more independent. As an artwork produced in special history situation, the sculpture's creation and approval was under the control of the government. Meanwhile, with the authors' effort it took an active part in the formation of a new national image. Eventually, the sculpture was adopted into the national value system and used for arousing the masses' patriotism of devoting to socialism construction.