The History of The Mao Portfolio by Andy Warhol

For inquiries on price and availability of the Mao Portfolio by Andy Warhol contact info@robinrile.com

President Nixon’s 1971 visit to China inspired pop artist Andy Warhol to create a variation of artworks of the Communist Chinese ruler Mao Zedong. Warhol created the Chairman Mao Portfolio in a style similar to his portraits of Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, using bright colors to accentuate the blurred propaganda style images of ruler who had a quasi cult-like following in the East. The original portrait of Mao Zedong graced the cover of his widely circulated 1966 book Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong  (referred to as the “little red book”) which Communist party members were encouraged to carry with them. Andy Warhol marveled that Chinese households were required to have only one piece of artwork, a portrait of Chairman Mao. During a conversation with his dealer Bruno Bischofberger about painting famous people, Warhol noted that he, “was just reading in Life magazine that the most famous person in the world today is Chairman Mao.” Originally Bischofberger had suggested Warhol create portraits of Albert Einstein, but Warhol reveled in fame rather than ideas. So the Mao Portfolio by Andy Warhol was born.

The rather austere portrait takes on Warhol’s signature pop art style by contrasting the realistic features with garish colors applied to Mao’s face like makeup. Loose painterly lines create a confetti-like appearance in the background, elevating Mao once again to a celebrity status. The artist stated “Since fashion is art now and Chinese is in fashion, I could make a lot of money… Mao would be really nutty not to believe in it, it’d just be fashion but the same portrait you can buy in the poster store.” Warhol elevated the banal portrait of Mao to high-art, much as he did for Brillo Pads or Campbell’s Soup Cans. A worthless picture becomes valuable only in its artfulness. While Warhol did not openly state his feelings of the Communist leader, this is regarded as his first political portrait.

In 1972, Styria Studio in New York printed the 10 image Mao Portfolio by Andy Warhol. An edition of 250, the images are 36″ x 36” screenprints printed on Beckett High White Paper. Mao Portfolio is included in the catalogue raisonne of Warhol’s printworks by Feldman/Schellmann as numbers, F&S.II.90 to FS II.99.

Contact info@robinrile.com for information on pricing and availability of Mao Portfolios by Andy Warhol.

Mao Portfolio by Andy Warhol text by Robin Rile Fine Art

Mao Portfolio by Andy Warhol text by Robin Rile Fine Art