IN the struggle to found the People's Republic of China, numerous leaders and heroes emerged. Their images depicted in various forms of art work inspire one generation after another.

Portrait of Mao Zedong

    At the Guangzhou Spring Auction Fair held last June, the Full-Length Portrait of Chairman Mao by Jin Shangyi (1934-) brought in a sensational RMB 20.16 million, setting a record for works of its kind. Jin, an artist who works in oils, is currently president of the Chinese Artists' Association. This 1966 work, 262 x 137 cm in dimension, is considered representative of his style. The figure in the painting fully embodies the artist's adroitness with the brush. Apart from its enormous historical impact, it is also the largest full-length portrait of Mao Zedong in existence.

    Chairman Mao Goes to Anyuan is comparatively more typical of the era. A lawsuit over its copyright in the autumn of 1995 drew public attention to the painting, which artist Liu Chunhua (1944-) consigned to China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd. It was eventually sold to China Construction Bank, Guangzhou Branch, for RMB 6.05 million. Reproduced 900 million times (not including reprints), it has dwarfed Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa to become the most printed oil painting in the world.

    Shortly after its creation in 1967, Chairman Mao Goes to An-yuan was admired in the highest of China's art circles, becoming an archetype of that era. Today, reproductions and related souvenirs fill the markets.

    The work portrays Mao Zedong in 1921, a time when the Chinese revolution was still in the bud, going to Anyuan to spread revolutionary ideals and eventually initiate the Anyuan Railway Workers' and Coal Miners' Strike. Liu Chunhua was born in a farming family in northeastern China and took up painting in his childhood. In the summer of 1967, an exhibition was planned in Beijing, called "Mao Zedong Thought Shines over the Anyuan Workers' Revolution." Liu Chunhua took the assignment to create an oil painting depicting Mao Zedong's trip there as a young man. Liu Chunhua and his team collected articles about Mao Zedong's early years, memoirs on Mao's revolutionary activities, and historical documents about the Anyuan Strike. Liu Chunhua was a 24-year-old student at this time and had never formally studied oil painting. To accomplish this glorious but challenging mission, he decided to experience life in an Anyuan coal mine. He placed himself there in early July, and interviewed veteran workers to find out the facts of Mao Zedong's activities in Anyuan.

    After a study of historical records and some field research, Liu Chunhua eventually chose to focus on the image of Mao Zedong, dressed in a traditional Chinese long robe, looking firm, flanked by the glow of a sunrise and thick clouds ringing a hillside. For dramatic effect, Liu Chunhua layers the hero's every gesture with meaning: A raised head and slightly turned neck signifies his brave and dauntless leadership; his left hand forms a fist, expressing his resolution to liberate the people and his faith in ultimate victory. Mao also tucks an umbrella under his right arm, implying his tireless journey through revolution has been stormy.

    On viewing the painting, Mao Zedong commented: "It resembles me very much in both spirit and temperament. However, we didn't have such good cloth shoes then. We could only wear sandals made of grass; and in Anyuan, I wasn't wearing a robe but a jacket." Despite these minor criticisms, Mao Zedong was satisfied with the painting. Later on, this painting appeared in textbooks for primary and middle schools, and was also reproduced in the form of commemorative badges, plaster statues and so on, claiming nationwide recognition and a reputation abroad.

    In the compositions depicting PRC founders, Mao Zedong was depicted most often. In theme and style these works were largely influenced by the art work of the Soviet Union.