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[ltmurnau]

Chinese museum buys iconic Mao painting

Last Updated: Friday, September 29, 2006 | 10:11 AM ET
CBC Arts

China's National Museum has purchased an portrait of former leader Mao Zedong, saving it from auction, according state media.


The painting, which served as the model for the massive, iconic image that hangs over Tiananmen Square, had been set for auction in Beijing on June 3 by its Chinese-American owner.

The purchase was jointly financed by the museum and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency.

The actual price paid for the painting was not disclosed.

"The portrait is worth far more than its monetary value in terms of art and history," Chen Lusheng, a researcher with the China National Museum of Fine Arts, told Xinhua.

The painting was taken off the block in May amid widespread outrage from both government officials and the public, many of whom feared the portrait would fall into foreign hands.

Thousands of Chinese had expressed dismay on internet chat rooms at the proposed sale of the portrait, with many saying it was a piece of China's history and ought to belong to the people.

Mao, who died in 1976, is still revered by many in China, despite the excesses of his regime, which saw massive political, economic and social upheaval as well as the death of millions.

The painting — a 91-by-68-centimetre canvas created in 1950 by painter Zhang Zhenshi — had been expected to fetch as much as $165,000.

Zhang was one of 30 artists from across China selected to paint Mao on the first anniversary of the revolution that brought him to power.

Many of those paintings have since been lost or destroyed, but Zhang's iconic work — depicting a solemn Mao dressed in a grey tunic — was reproduced as a poster that appeared in public spaces all over China.

With files from the Associated Press


Link to earlier story: http://ltmurnau.livejournal.com/109033.html

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