Mao's Endless Face

During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Mao's portrait was treated as almost sacred. His face went onto badges, banners, mugs, and the front page of every newspaper, copied in numbers without parallel in any earlier image campaign.

The most famous copy still hangs over the gate of Tiananmen Square in Beijing — a portrait large enough to be read from across the vast plaza, repainted carefully to this day.

Because the approved portrait was fixed, ordinary painters became copy machines.

Art schools and workshops trained people to reproduce the same calm, glowing leader again and again. There was no room for a personal style or a fresh idea — only faithful copies. The result was strange: a whole country full of artists, almost none of them allowed to actually create.