Netizens oppose auction of Mao's portrait
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-05-19 16:20 The Chinese news Website
Sina.com has received nearly 10,000 posts from netizens after it published the
news that Huachen Auction Company will begin the bidding for Mao's portrait on
June 3.
Many netizens expect the government authority to end the auction.
Some netizens said that a Chinese museum should collect the historical
portrait instead of it being auctioned.
The painting is expectedly worth 1 million yuan (US$120,000) to 1.2 million
yuan. The sale is open to both Chinese and foreign bidders, said Mei Ligang, a
spokesman for the Beijing Huachen Auction Company.
"The portrait is worth far more than its monetary value in terms of art and
history," said Chen Lusheng, a researcher from the China National Museum of Fine
Arts.
Zhang Zhenshi, a Chinese painter who sketched the original in the early
1950s, was chosen from more than 30 candidates to portray Mao Zedong, China's
revolutionary leader.
The auction company exhibited the oil painting at a press conference a few
days ago. The 91 centimeter-tall and 68.5 centimeter-wide work of art is
currently owned by a Chinese-American collector.
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