Toward the Sea: Coastal Defense and Marine Construction in Guangdong Art of New China

While research on art reflecting the fervent construction of socialism and the new face of life is abundant, themes related to maritime construction have rarely been systematically examined. Due to their proximity to the southeastern coast, artists from Guangdong engaged extensively with maritime subjects through sketches and creations derived from immersion in life, consequently producing a significant number of works concerning coastal construction, border defense, and social life and struggles.

In fact, within the national production and construction efforts of that time, marine resources and the defense of maritime territories received high-level attention and emphasis. The creations of these artists not only embodied certain shared cultural and artistic policies and the spirit of the era but also witnessed the historical process of New China’s maritime construction from a regional perspective.

It was precisely by mobilizing various historical and regional factors, as well as the use of organized and various media means, that artists followed the times, actively engaged with reality, thus promoting the transformation of artistic language and the formation of new regional features with the ideal construction of New China.