Canteen for the Common People

This painting, also called Underground Printing Factory, was Hou Yimin’s graduation work for Konstantin Maksimov’s painting course. It depicts a scene of progressive young people secretly printing the propaganda publications of the party before liberation. It was inspired by a real incident the painter himself had experienced. Hou joined the Chinese Communist Party in October, 1948, and became a branch head of the underground party at Beiping Art School. He was in charge of developing and making contacts with the progressive teachers at the art school as well as rescuing comrades who had been arrested. Hou was a genuine revolutionary veteran at Beiping Art School. With young Hou Yimin and painter Zhou Sicong as the models, this painting reflects these senior CAFA members' "youthful memories of Communist activism".This piece had first been collected by Liu Xiao Dong, oil painter of CAFA, for many years, and was later donated to CAFA in 2012. --- Excerpted from Wang Huangsheng's exhibition, '凝固的激情' ('solidified passion')