Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
China, Room 44, The T.T. Tsui Gallery

Mao Tse Tung [Mao Zedong]

Poster
ca. 1965-1970 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Through the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) Mao Zedong aimed to reinvigorate Communism in China and eliminate traditional urban class differences. A 'saturation campaign' of visual propaganda was a primary vehicle for disseminating the new ideologies. Themes and form were rigidly prescribed and the idealised figures were often copied from source books.
Mao Zedong's personal aim behind the Cultural Revolution was to bolster his own position within the Communist Party. Posters helped to propagate the cult and here he is seen literally as the central subject. Chairman Mao badges and posters offered a means for people to 'own' the cult and demonstrate their allegiance.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleMao Tse Tung [Mao Zedong] (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Colour offset lithography
Brief description
Full-length portrait poster of Chairman Mao. China. ca. 1965-1970.
Physical description
Full-length portrait poster of Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, framed in red with yellow Chinese characters; French and English translations also in yellow.
Dimensions
  • Height: 76.8cm
  • Width: 53.4cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • Chairman Mao Tse-Tung/ Le Président Mao Tse-Toung (yellow on red)
  • 中国北京·人民美術出版社出版 (blue on white along lower margin)
    Translation
    Published by People’s Fine Arts Publishing House, Beijing, China
  • 中国国际书店发行·MA-37 (blue on white along lower margin)
    Translation
    Issued by China International Book Shop (now China International Publishing Group)
Credit line
Gift of the American Friends of the V&A; Gift to the American Friends by Leslie, Judith and Gabri Schreyer and Alice Schreyer Batko
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
Through the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) Mao Zedong aimed to reinvigorate Communism in China and eliminate traditional urban class differences. A 'saturation campaign' of visual propaganda was a primary vehicle for disseminating the new ideologies. Themes and form were rigidly prescribed and the idealised figures were often copied from source books.
Mao Zedong's personal aim behind the Cultural Revolution was to bolster his own position within the Communist Party. Posters helped to propagate the cult and here he is seen literally as the central subject. Chairman Mao badges and posters offered a means for people to 'own' the cult and demonstrate their allegiance.
Other number
LS.1486 - Leslie Schreyer Loan Number
Collection
Accession number
E.695-2004

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdSeptember 28, 2004
Record URL
Download as: JSON