What was the effect of Cultural Revolution on local artists?
The cultural revolution or the revolution from above, as it is sometimes called, was, in contrast to almost every other revolution, not initiated by the people, but by the government. It forced the arts in certain directions that were determined by ideology. Due to this circumstance culture ceased to be autonomous and an era of individual authority and personality cult was commenced. Consequently arts were used as means to spread communist policies and to justify the government’s actions. Artists lost their creative freedom and some of them preferred migration to restriction to predetermined guidelines. Artists, who bowed to the Mao’s rules, however suddenly had unimagined possibilities. They enjoyed privileges, such as high incomes and incentives, and they counted to the elite society. This means that often not the best artists, but the ones, who were the most loyal to Mao, were the most successful ones. You can also see these links
