The Rent Collection Courtyard () is a clay collection of 114 life-sized sculptures in located in the courtyard of the former home of rural landlord
Liu Wencai in
Dayi County
Dayi County () is a county of Sichuan Province, China, it is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Chengdu, the provincial capital. It is Chengdu City's westernmost division, bordering the prefecture-level divisions of Ya'an
...
,
Sichuan
Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...
created by Ye Yushan and a team of sculptors from the Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts in 1965. It is a famous work of
Socialist Realist
Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ...
sculpture showing an evil landlord collecting rent from poor peasants, it is one of the most powerful works of the cultural revolution. Copies were made and put on display in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
after modification to make them more powerful as works of
propaganda.
In the 1999
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
, the contemporary Chinese artist
Cai Guo-Qiang referenced the sculpture in the performance piece ''Venice's Rent Collection Courtyard'' in which he hired artisans to recreate the sculpture.
References
Chinese sculpture
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