About the spectacular Chinese sculptural group Rent Collection Courtyard (Chin.: Shouzuyuan).

Frankfurt, Germany - In conjunction with China’s appearance as Guest of Honour at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair, the Schirn will be showing, for the first time ever in the West, the spectacular Chinese sculptural group Rent Collection Courtyard (Chin.: Shouzuyuan). This ensemble of more than 100 life-size figures is among the most important works in modern Chinese art history, and is firmly embedded in China’s collective memory. Created as a site-specific installation in Dayi in 1965 by teachers and graduates of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing, the group of figures soon became a model artwork of the Cultural Revolution, which began in 1966. Over the following years several variations of the work were made and exhibited throughout China, only one of which survives today. This is a mobile travelling version made in 1974–78 from copper-plated fibreglass at great expense, and is located in the art museum of the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in Chongqing, central China. In a dramatic sequence of scenes, which unites traditional Chinese, Soviet, and Western stylistic elements, the ensemble of figures depicts the merciless exploitation of the peasants by a rich, pre-Communist landowner. As the Cultural Revolution largely fades from people’s memories, young Chinese artists have repeatedly returned to the work, and it has figured in many current discussions on contemporary art in China.