Art News

Center for Chinese Studies at University of Michigan rediscovers rare Chinese art collection

ANN ARBOR (AP).- Propaganda pieces produced in China four decades ago during the Cultural Revolution have been unearthed in a storage room at the University of Michigan — a rare find in either the U.S. or its country of origin, experts said. The rediscovery of the 15 poster-sized papercut images illustrating the political upheaval of the era is a pleasant surprise to scholars studying a society that was largely closed off from the West. The images are cut out of red paper in the same way that artists customarily create decorations for Chinese New Year celebrations and other festivities. They include glowing portrayals of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong and Red Guards burning books and trampling on a Buddhist statute. The handmade images were stored at the university’s Center for Chinese Studies, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Carol Stepanchuk, the