Mao Tse-Tung II (in Sarcophagus)

by Leon Golub

Artist Leon Golub (USA, 1922 - 2004)

Alternate Title

Mao Tse-Tung II (i sarkofag)

Date1978

MediumAcrylic on linen

DimensionsYttermått: 45,5 × 59 cm

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchase 2002

Countries

United States

Object NumberMOM/2002/72

The artwork is not on display

About the artworkLeon Golub became a leading figure in the Chicago art movement in the 1950s that explored figuration, often with expressionist imagery portraying human brutality. His motifs were scraped into the paint, and he collected pictures of body parts from newspapers to use in his compositions. Golub was confrontational, forever scrutinising society and abuse of power, not least in the USA. War and violence create monsters, but the oppressor and the oppressed are equally victims, he said. Golub had worked as a cartographer during the Second World War. The image of the Chinese dictator Mao Zedong is matter-of-fact, as though this were any old dead man. Leon Golub made several pictures of Mao in his “Portraits of Power” series.
Selected exhibition history Samlingsutställning 2019-2022 (den 1 februari 2019 - den 27 augusti 2023) Moderna Museet, Stockholm

Works by the artist