In+Front+of+the+Tian'anmen+Square--Sun+Zixi


 * In Front of Tiananmen Square by Sun Zixi**




 * Artwork Identification**

Title: In Front of Tiananmen Square Artist(s): Sun Zixi Date: 1964 Period: 20th Century Country of Origin: China Cultural/Ethnic Affiliation: Chinese Medium: Oil on canvas Dimensions:153x294 cm Museum/Collection: National Art Museum of China Accession Number: unknown Current Location and Manner of Display: National Art Museum of China Provenance: unknown


 * Introduction**

//In Front of Tiananmen Square// is a Socialist Realist painting done by Sun Zixi (dates) in 1964. It depicts several groups of tourists happily standing in front of Tiananmen Gate in Bejing, China.


 * Descriptive Analysis**

//In Front of Tiananmen Square// is an oil painting on a rectangular canvas which is 153 centimeters tall and 294 centimeters wide. The painting is done in a realistic style. In the lower central portion of the painting stands a group of twelve people. The group includes both men and women of varying dress and heights. They are all looking straight ahead as if having their picture taken. Starting from left to right, the first figure is a young man. He is wearing a blue shirt and a white scarf around his neck. He is wearing black pants which expose his yellow or green socks. He is wearing black shoes. The second man appears much taller and probably older. He is wearing a yellow shirt, a blue or gray hat, a blue belt, black pants, white socks, and black shoes. Standing behind and to the right of him is a man. Not much can be seen of him besides his head and neck. Next to him is a woman with chin length black hair. She is wearing a green scarf, a dark green shirt, black pants, red socks, and black shoes. Next to her is a girl with a braid in her hair. Not much can be seen of her besides her face and her white collar. In front of her is a short haired woman wearing a multicolored shirt, grey pants, and black shoes. She is smiling widely. To the right of her is a man wearing a white coat, black pants, and a blue or gray hat. The man is smiling widely. Next to him is a man wearing a black shirt and a gray or blue hat. Next to him is a man wearing all black, and holding a large blue and yellow wide brimmed hat in front of him. To the right of him is a man who is wearing a blue shirt. Next to him is a man wearing a khaki colored hat and jacket. He is holding a green bag, and wearing darker khaki pants and shoes. He is smiling widely. The figure furthest to the right is a man wearing a maroon or brown shirt and dark brown or gray pants. He appears to have a hat hanging from his neck that is resting on his back.

To the left of the group of people is another group of several people. The group appears to consist of mostly (if not all) women, and they seem to be posing for a picture. They are standing in two rows, with the back row standing and the front row sitting down with their knees in front of them. They are dressed in clothing that appears to be less modern. The women are wearing long dresses and have their hair in long braids. There are three figures standing in front of them. One is a taller man, and the two others seem to be younger boys. The tall man seems to have a camera in front of him, though it also looks as if it could be another person. Behind the women is a bridge on which people are crossing.

To the right of the central group is a group of six sailors dressed in uniforms. The man on the left appears to be bending down to tie his show. Three of the men standing to the right of him are standing in a line, possibly to have their picture taken. The other two man stand in front of them and to the right. The man closer to the left is kneeling down, possibly to take a picture, and the man to his right is hunched over.

The background for each of these three groups is a large wall of the front of the Imperial Palace (//gugong//). The wall is very tall and is mostly red, though it is capped by a thin layer of purple, and then topped by what looks to be a white gate. In the center of the wall, towards the top, hangs a large portrait of a Mao Zedong. On both sides of the portrait are nine Chinese characters enclosed by a border. The characters on one side differ from the other. There are two large street lamps that flank both sides of the painting, and stand in front of the first Chinese character on the left, and the last Chinese character on the right. In the center of the painting, behind the wall, is a large structure. The yellow or gold roof has a steep slope. There is a secondary roof below the main roof which is the same color. The secondary roof is being held up by ten red columns. There are eight large, red lanterns. Four of the lanterns sit between five of the red columns on the left. There is then a larger space between the fifth and sixth column, and another four red lanterns sitting between the sixth and tenth columns on the right. Above the columns and lanterns is a decorative lintel. The same sort of decorative lintel sits between the secondary and the main roof. There is something circular and red that is sitting in the center of the building between the main and the secondary roof. There is some sort of decoration or sculpture on both the right and left corner of the roof. There is a smaller building flanking both the right and left side of the large structure. Only the roof can be seen on each building, and the roof is the same color as the roofs on the main structure. On each of the roofs of the smaller structure stands several flags. The exact number of flags cannot be deciphered as the large street lamps impede the view. Behind the buildings is a blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds.


 * Formal and Contextual Analysis**

In China after 1949 most painters worked in a realistic manner to portray popular subject matters such as revolutionary accomplishments and history of the Communist Part of China (Peng, 2010, pg. 260). The leaders of the Communist Party of China (or CPC) believed that realism was the best method for capturing the history of their political group (Peng, 2010, pg. 260). Realist artist Xu Beihong, who had been trained in the Europe, was made the director of the new national art academy in China in 1949 (Andrews, 1998, pg. 228). In 1950 the new academy, which was located in Beijing and would be taking over the old academy in the same location, was renamed the Central Academy of Fine Arts (Andrews, 1998, pg. 228). Sun Zixi graduated form the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1958 (Huntington Archive). During his studies he was undoubtedly influenced by the Chinese's governments insistence for a new type of art for their new government; art that would serve the masses (Andrews, 1998, p. 228). The years between 1959 and 1961 saw a famine that caused food shortages all over China. What followed was a trend in Socialist Realist art that included happy Chinese people as subjects (Andrews, 1998, pg. 231). //In Front of Tiananmen Square,// painted by Sun Zixi in 1964, is a prime example of a work from this period. Here, three separate groups of happy Chinese people are standing in front of the Tiananmen Gate below a large iconic portrait of Chairman Mao.

The location of Tiananmen Square is important to this painting. Tiananmen Square, which was built in 1651, is located in the center of Beijing, China and is one of the largest public squares in the world (Encyclopedia Britannica). The name of the square is taken from the Tiananmen Gate which provides the backdrop to the painting //In Front of Tiananmen Square//. (Encyclopedia Britannica) The May Fourth Incident in 1919, in which many Chinese rallied for their independence, took place at Tiananmen Square. Tiananmen Square was also the location where, in 1949, Chairman Mao Zedong announced the founding of the Peoples Republic of China thus making it an important Communist landmark (Lu, 1997, pg. 117). Many people consider Tiananmen Square the political center of China, and thousands of Chinese would visit each year to have their picture taken in front of this iconic location. (Lu, 1997, pg. 117)


 * Personal Interpretations**

//In Front of Tiananmen Square// exemplifies the state sponsored art of communist China under the rule of Mao Zedong. The people in the painting are happily visit a landmark historically important to the Communist Party. While the painting is realistic, it is also very romanticized, which was highly encouraged at the time.


 * References**

Andrews, Julie F. and Kuiyi Shen. //A Century in Crisis: Modernity and Tradition in the Art of Twentieth-Century China//. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 1998.

//Encyclopedia Britannica.// Online edition. <[]>

The Huntington Archive of Buddhist and Asian Art at the Ohio State University. 

National Art Museum of China. 

Peng, Lu. //A Pocket History of 20th-Century Chinese Art//. Peking: Peking University Press, 2010.

Lu, Sheldon Hsiao-peng. "Art, Culture, and Cultural Criticism in Post-New China." //New Literary History// Volume 28, No. 1 (1997): 117.