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Poster art in Japan between approximately 1920 and 1945 mirrors the rapid militarisation of society and the growth of militarism, statism and fascism during the Showa Era.<br/><br/> In the 1920s expo poster art features elements of modern art and even Art Deco. Themes are whimsical and outward looking, representing Japan's growing importance and influence in the world of international commerce and art. By the 1930s this kind of poster art had grown much more bleak, less concerned with human themes and more directed towards statism and social control. Feminine imagery disappears to be replaced by wheels of industry, with distinct similarities to contemporary Nazi art in Fascist Germany.<br/><br/> From the outbreak of full scale hostilities with China through to Pearl Harbour and Japan's entry into World War II, ponderous, heavy machinery, marching soldiers, menacing guns and above all bomber aircraft combine to give the posters a crushing, inhuman, Orwellian aspect. This epitomises Japanese fascist art of the Showa Period.
Jiang Qing (Chiang Ch'ing, March 1914 – May 14, 1991) was the pseudonym that was used by Chinese leader Mao Zedong's last wife and major Communist Party of China power figure.<br/><br/> She went by the stage name Lan Ping during her acting career, and was known by various other names during her life. She married Mao in Yan'an in November 1938, and is sometimes referred to as Madame Mao in Western literature, serving as Communist China's first first lady.<br/><br/> Jiang Qing was most well-known for playing a major role in the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) and for forming the radical political alliance known as the 'Gang of Four'. When Mao died in 1976, Jiang lost the support and justification for her political activities. She was arrested in October 1976 by Hua Guofeng and his allies, and was subsequently accused of being counter-revolutionary.<br/><br/> Though initially sentenced to death, her sentence was commuted to life imprisonment in 1983, however, and in May 1991 she was released for medical treatment. Before returning to prison, she committed suicide.