Li Huasheng (1944–2018): The Line as Essence Li Huasheng (b. 1944 in Yibin, Sichuan) represents the first generation of artists raised and trained in the People’s Republic of China. His career spans the painting of Maoist propaganda in the 1960s, a decade of secretly studying forbidden traditional styles during the Cultural Revolution, an overnight rise from poverty to prominence during the artistic rejuvenation of Sichuan province un…