Chinese Propaganda Posters

With his smooth, red face radiating light beams in all directions, the great Chairman Mao Zedong was ubiquitous on propaganda posters of the People's Republic of China between 1949 and the early 1980s. Mao, depicted as a stoic superhero (also referred to as the great teacher, great leader, or supreme commander), was shown in various situations: inspecting factories, smoking a cigarette with field workers, in a bathrobe by the Yangtze River, standing at the bow of a ship, or hovering over a sea of red flags. He was always flanked by strong, healthy, ageless men, masculine-looking women, and children dressed in sack-like, genderless, drab clothing. The aim of the posters was to demonstrate morally correct behavior to the Chinese people and to illustrate how wonderful the future for communist China would be if everyone collectively followed the same path toward utopia. This volume presents a selection of the colorful and now partly extremely rare propaganda artworks and other cultural artifacts from Max Gottschalk's extensive collection.