We Have Been Naught We Shall Be All
2007
Artist
- Hung Liu, Chinese, American, 1948-2021
- Born: Changchun, China
- Work Locations: Oakland, CA
Country
United States
Object
painting
Medium
oil paint on canvas
Accession Number
2010.474A-C
Credit Line
Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum
Hung Liu (United States), We Have Been Naught We Shall Be All, 2007. Oil paint on canvas, 80 x 240 inches. Denver Art Museum: Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum, 2010.474A-C. © Hung Liu
Dimensions
height: 80 in, 203.2000 cm; width: 240 in, 609.6000 cm; height: 80 in, 203.2000 cm; width: 80 in, 203.2000 cm
Department
Modern and Contemporary Art
Collection
Modern and Contemporary Art
This object is currently on view
Hung Liu based this painting on the 1949 propaganda film Daughters of China, in which Chinese women soldiers resist capture by the Japanese army by drowning themselves in a river. Liu memorializes this heroic yet tragic tale through veils of dripping linseed oil that evoke the haziness of memory. The title is a lyric from the political anthem “The Internationale,” which was sung by Tiananmen Square protestors in 1989.
