An early official version of the late Chairman Mao Zedong's portrait, which used to hang prominently on the main Tian'anmen gate, will be put up for auction on June 3. Experts say it is worth an estimated one million yuan.

The oil painting was what greeted visitors to Tian'anmen in the 1950s and 60s.

Beijing Huachen Auctions Co., Ltd. announced yesterday that other valuable pieces of art including ancient Chinese paintings, calligraphies, jewelry, porcelain and jade artworks, and a rare painting of Zhu De, the former Commander in Chief of China, by American artist Aimee A. Lozier, will also be put up for auction.

But Chairman Mao's portrait is by far the most interesting. Between the 1950s and 60s, it was the most reproduced piece of art in China, and reprints found their place on the walls of thousands of Chinese homes.

The artist was Zhang Zhenshi, born in Liaoyang, Liaoning Province in 1914, a painter and professor at China Central Industrial Arts Academy (now a part of Tsinghua University).

In preparation for the ceremony to announce the founding of New China in 1949, the central government summoned over 30 top artists from art schools all over China to paint portraits of communist leaders including Mao, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou En'lai, Karl Marx, Frederick Engels, and Lenin. Zhang's great artistry caught the eye of officials and he was commissioned to paint Mao's portraits over the following few years.

According to a Huachen official, Zhang's portrait of Mao was lost overseas. It was only recently that an American-Chinese collector in possession of the portrait asked that it be put up for auction. The official declined to reveal the collector's name.

He said: "After so many years, it has finally come back to China."

This version is the only existing copy of the series of portraits of the communist leaders.

The portrait that now hangs on the Tian'anmen tower gate was painted by Ge Xiaoguang, an artist who has been painting portraits of Mao since 1977.

Mao's portrait is replaced every year before National Day, which falls on October 1.

Chairman Mao by Zhang Zhenshi

Zhu De by Aimee A. Lozier

(China.org.cn by Zhang Rui, May 18, 2006)