“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 silkscreen.” – Andy Warhol. Just one year after this comment, Warhol created Mao 91.

Mao 91 is part of Andy Warhol’s notorious Mao series. Given the subject matter, this was a fairly controversial portfolio. The Mao portraits represent a deviation from Warhol’s usual works, as he often portrayed images of a capitalist sensibility. Mao Zedong was the founder and Chairman of the People’s Republic of China from its establishment in 1954 to 1959. He ruled China as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China, from 1949 until his death in 1976. Mao 91 may also be referred to as the red Mao or the salmon Mao in reference to the background, or the “blue-faced” Mao.