MAO, Zedong.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Official Portrait Poster. An exceptionally well-preserved example of a rare Mao portrait poster, published soon after the founding of the People's Republic of China, issued as an early attempt to establish Mao as a state figurehead. This is an example of a short-lived approach to depicting Mao that quickly gave way to the full-face style seen in official Mao portraits up to the present day.By 1949, having secured control of China's major cities including the capital, the leaders of the Chinese Communist Party turned their attention to consolidating the Party's image in the eyes of ordinary people. Part of this process involved distributing official images of senior figures - especially Mao Zedong - for display in workplaces, schools, and public areas. The present poster was intended to reinforce the stately image of the country's new leader. Painted and printed around 1950, it shows Mao looking into the distance, as if toward the future, projecting the authoritative and contemplative qualities befitting the leader of the world's newest socialist power. The image's imposing size is also designed to manifest Mao's authority. The style closely follows that of a portrait of Mao occasionally hung on the Tiananmen rostrum from May 1950, which showed Mao looking off to the right with a similarly serious expression. The Tiananmen portrait was quickly replaced when critics accused it of making Mao appear aloof and divorced from the concerns of the masses, and subsequent portrait poste

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