Harvest Song

"Harvest Song" is a work produced by Yuan Yunsheng, when he was still a student at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in China, in 1959.The evening scene depicts a farmer rowing his boat, laden with the day's harvest. Also in the boat is a group of farmers on their way home to rest after a day of hard work, along with the food they have harvested.The characters' features and figures are sketched out with a few bold strokes. The grain is not depicted in meticulous detail either, with the artist using the color and volume of his strokes to flesh it out, in a way that is reminiscent of Monet's "Haystacks" series.Yuan's style was not consistent with the realistic painting techniques advocated by the Central Academy of Fine Arts at the time. This creative method was the artist's own style, stemming from his desire to emphasize individuality in artistic expression.