Historic Mao Zedong portrait for sale
(chinadaily.com.cn/AP)
Updated: 2006-05-18 14:37
A painting of China's founding leader, Mao Zedong, that was used as
a model for portraits hung above Beijing's Tiananmen Rostrum in the 1950s and
1960s will be sold at auction June 3, an auction house said
Thursday.
Workers display the
portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong at an auction preview in Beijing May 17,
2006. [Xinhua] |
The painting is expected to
bring 1-1.2 million yuan (US$120,000-US$150,000) at the sale, which is open to
both Chinese and foreign bidders, said Mei Ligang, a spokesman for Beijing
Huachen Auctions.
The 91-by-68-centimeter (36-by-27-inch) picture, known
as a "mother copy," was used by artists who painted Mao portraits that hung on
the Tiananmen Gate, Mei said. He said the painting for sale never hung above the
square, while copies that did have been lost.
The painting belonged to a
private collector who decided to sell it, Mei said.
Thousands of
portraits and statues of Mao were once displayed publicly throughout
China. And his portrait remains on the Tiananmen Gate.
Mei said the
buyer of the Mao portrait will be free to take it out of the
country.
Such political memorabilia has attracted high prices from newly
rich Chinese collectors in recent years.
At the auction, more than 1,000 pieces of Chinese paintings, oils,
porcelains and jadeware will be go under the hammer.
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