Warhol presents Mao Zedong (1893 – 1976), the Former Chairman of the Communist Party of China, in a style reminiscent of his celebrity portraits. He fuses together the image of totalitarian propaganda and the colors found in his celebrity art to demonstrate the cult of personality surrounding the Chinese ruler. Bright colors are applied in a makeup-like fashion as a form of personalization, a sharp contrast to Communist ideologies, which shunned individualism. This juxtaposition is taken further by the number of variations Warhol made of this image.
This is Mao 95 by Andy Warhol print was framed for the first time when added to our inventory and is a printer’s proof (PP), outside the edition of 250.
MAO 95 BY ANDY WARHOL AS PART OF A LARGER BODY OF WORK
Andy Warhol created the Mao series during the early 1970s when he was taking many commissions for celebrities. Celebrity portraits developed into a significant aspect of his career and a main source of income. After President Nixon’s 1972 visit to China, and the inevitable buzz it created in the press, Andy Warhol was inspired to create a series of prints that would immortalize the image of the Chinese leader, Mao Zedong. Warhol could see a blurry mirror image of United States media to Chinese propaganda.There were parallels between the cult-like following in the West to movie stars and Mao Zedong in the East. Seeing these in a strange likeness, Warhol produced his Mao series in a fashion reminiscent of his portraits of American celebrities like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. These color charged screenprints of Mao were further set apart by the layers of graffiti-like scribbles that were screened on separately, transforming Mao into a worldwide pop icon.
