Auction of Mao's portrait canceled amid criticism

The auction of a portrait of late Chairman Mao Zedong has been called off and the owner said he might donate it to a Chinese Museum.

The painting served as a model for portraits hung at the Tian'anmen Rostrum on the front gate of the Imperial Palace facing the Tian'anmen Square in the Chinese capital. It was scheduled to be auctioned by the Huachen Auction Co., Ltd. on June 3.

The auction house says on its website that it is not going to sell the portrait following "advice from the government." And the owner of the painting is discussing with a number of Chinese museums about donating the artwork.

The painting owned by a Chinese American was expected to bring about one million yuan (125,000 U.S. dollars) to 1.2 million yuan at the planned auction in Beijing, according to a report in the China Daily newspaper.

The sale plan has sparked an intense online criticism. Netizens hold that the portrait is a national treasure and should not be sold.

Created in the 1950s by portraitist Zhang Zhenshi, the painting is 91 cm long and 69 cm wide. The painter died in 1992 at the age of 78.

Source: Xinhua