When he was 65, his works were attacked by an establishment art journal as "incompatible with the feelings of the masses in the socialist era." When he was 67, the Cultural Revolution exploded. Red Guards came to confiscate his property.
更大的磨難在後頭，六十五歲時，官方美術刊物批評他的作品「那種荒涼、冷落的情調，和社會主義時代人民群眾的感情意趣格格不入」；六十七歲「文化大革命」轟然掀起，紅衛兵來抄家，櫥櫃貼起封條，風眠先生惴惴不安，將部分作品丟進爐裡，付之一炬。