“Barefoot” Doctor with Her Camel

This painting depicts a young woman, known as a barefoot doctor, walking through a snowstorm to visit her patients in a remote village. The figure is remarkable for her strong outline and heroic quality in the blizzard. Her identity is clear from the shoulder bag with a prominent red cross. A sense of strength and determination is conveyed through her confident stride, clutched fist, and encouraged face, as well as through Huang’s sketching, rendered in austere brushwork. In contrast, the camel that looms like a shadow directly behind her is rendered in soft, blurry ink washes.

A phenomenon of the Cultural Revolution, barefoot doctors were physicians serving rural areas. Many were farmers or workers who had received rudimentary training before starting practice. An artist in favor of socialist realism, Huang Zhou developed a fascination with the working classes and ethnic minorities living in China’s northwestern border provinces such as Xinjiang, and his paintings often vividly captured the life and environment in the frontiers. Huang was also adept at portraying daily activities in rural areas and combined realism with symbolism in his ink paintings.