Mao

Based on the official portrait of Mao on the cover of the Little Red Book.
Inspired by the mass ideology of Maoism and Mao's cult-like following in Chinese society.
In 1972, Life Magazine declared Mao Zedong the most famous person in the world.
The series of Mao was the first time Warhol depicted a political figure.


The serially used silkscreen technique is reminiscent of the mass-produced propaganda posters that were widespread in China under Mao's regime. Warhol's colouring counters the propaganda with subtle kitsch, combining Eastern mass ideology with Western aesthetics.
"I have been reading so much about China. They’re so nutty. They don’t believe in creativity.
The only picture they ever have is of Mao Zedong. It’s great. It looks like a silkscreen." (Warhol)

The most famous exponent of Pop Art, Andy Warhol created iconic motifs such as Marilyn Monroe, Campbell's soup cans and Mick Jagger, which have become part of the collective memory of Western consumer society.

Born in 1928 in the city of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, USA and raised in a poor farming family. Warhol discovered his passion for art to distract himself from his illness of the pigment disorder "chorea minor".

Studied graphic arts in his home town from 1945.

Graduated at the age of 21 in painting and design. 1949 Moves to the art metropolis of New York.

1962 Founds the "Factory" studio. The first series with "Campbell's Soup Cans" and "Coca Cola Bottles" are created. 1962 Andy Warhol takes part in the exhibition "The New Realists" in New York. This was when Warhol invented screen printing in a completely new way and thus devoted himself to painting in a very special way.

Looking for signs of the decay of the consumer and mass culture of his time, everyday objects or everyday life as well as the pop stars of his time were the focus of his depictions.

As a filmmaker, he realised pieces with naked people, which were considered very offensive in the 1960s. In 1968, the American Valerie Solanas made an attack on the artist, who was 40 years old at the time. After that, Warhol devoted himself increasingly to photography, art and painting projects.

In 1987, Andy Warhol died under unexplained circumstances during an operation in a New York hospital.

As the epitome of the Pop Art movement, Warhol's work stands for a diverse, queer counterculture.