Mao (Warhol)

Mao is a series of silkscreen paintings by American artist Andy Warhol created between 1972 and 1973. The paintings reimagines a famous portrait of Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung through the lens of Pop Art.

The Mao paintings feature bold, often contrasting colors and combine silkscreened photographic imagery with expressive brushwork, engaging with contemporary abstract art trends and Warhol's interest in repetition and media saturation. Although based on a political figure, the works focus less on Mao's ideology but rather how his image operated as a pervasive visual signifier, similar to Warhol's earlier portraits of cultural icons like Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy.