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Andy Warhol: Mao - Starting from the image taken from Mao's famous "Little Red Book", Andy Warhol with this series, 'takes aim' at the enemy of the capitalist system, the Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-tung.
Despite the repetition, each serigraph becomes an autonomous entity, thanks to the use of different colour ranges that alter the face and expression of the character, charging him with different emotional values.
It can be said that among Andy Warhol's most famous works, Mao Tse Tung ranks in the top 5. In the sixties, Andy Warhol became the king of Pop art, disrupting the rules of the art economy and giving rise to a capitalist art.
Warhol's works are produced quickly to earn money and success. Screen printing is the medium that Andy Warhol chooses to invest in art. In his colorful paintings, icons of mass society are reproduced in series.
In addition to the portrait of Mao Tse Tung, Andy Warhol has created equally famous works. Discover all the Original Andy Warhol Signed Works for Sale on Deodato Arte or visit specific sections of the most popular ones:
The pop portrait of Mao is created to highlight a political event. In 1972, American President Richard Nixon goes to Beijing to meet the new communist leader: Mao Tse-Tung.
With this portrait, Andy Warhol pays tribute to Mao Zedong. Mao had indeed returned to being the leader of China after the Cultural Revolution. The image of Mao in Pop version is taken from a photo published in a famous book by the Chinese leader. The Red Book is the book that contains all the most famous quotes of Mao.
Warhol's Maoist painting combines Chinese culture with capitalist culture. Through a photographic portrait with flat colors, Pop Art meets China. With the Mao Portrait, Warhol creates one of the most valued and interesting portraits for those who want to invest in art.
Andy Warhol's famous portraits, with their pop colors, are perfect paintings for modern homes. In China, on the contrary, Mao's portrait is still seen today as not suitable for Chinese culture. In Beijing in 2013, the exhibition on Andy Warhol, 15 Minutes Eternal, took place. Among Warhol's portraits, the portrait of Mao was excluded.
Eric Shiner, the director of the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, following the decision, states: "This is very disappointing... Warhol's imagery is so common and traditional in contemporary Chinese art."
The quotations for the portrait of Mao Tse Tung are constantly rising. The Warhol painting was auctioned by Sotheby's three times.
In 2007, the portrait of Mao was sold for £421,000. Sotheby's reopened another auction in 2014: Andy Warhol's Mao portrait was sold for £7.6 million. The famous portrait saw its quotation increase 18 times.
Sotheby's re-auctions the work in 2017. Andy Warhol's Mao portrait is sold for a quotation of $12.7 million. It is a Chinese buyer who decides to invest in art by purchasing this famous painting. Warhol's portrait flies to Hong Kong.