Mao
Medium: Lithograph in colors on Arches paper
Year: 1971
Image: 23 1/16 x 16 15/16 inches (58.6 x 43 cm)
Sheet 26 3/8 x 20 inches (67 x 50.7 cm)
Edition: 150
Publishers: Richard Kasak and Citadel Press, Inc., New York
Printer: Atelier Mourlot, New-York
Literature: Corlett 104
Roy Lichtenstein Catalogue Raisonne: RLCR 1963
Mao, 1971 (RLCR 1963) | Catalogue entry | Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonné
Signed, dated and numbered in pencil with the blindstamp of the artist
This lithograph was produced to accompany the deluxe signed and numbered edition of Frederic Tuten’s book The Adventures of Mao on the Long March.
Exemplifying Lichtenstein’s iconic Benday dot style, the artist’s portrait of Chairman Mao was produced to accompany the deluxe edition of Frederic Tuten’s novel The Adventures of Mao on the Long March, an experimental, non-linear and fictionalized account of the politician’s rise to power. Tuten and Lichtenstein developed a lifelong friendship initially through a dinner arranged by Guggenheim curator Diane Waldman, and soon Tuten became a regular visitor to Lichtenstein’s Manhattan studio. Tuten also served as the model for Lichtenstein’s graphic rendering of Mao Zedong, with Lichtenstein then altering Tuten’s visage to resemble that of the Chairman. Though Tuten had initially struggled to find a publisher for his radical novel, the inclusion of the Lichtenstein cover proved critical in securing a publishing deal.
Andy Warhol, Mao, 1973. Artwork: © 2025 The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc . / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
While Chinese propaganda at the time typically portrayed Mao Zedong as a heroic, nearly God-like figure, Lichtenstein’s stylized interpretation offers a less stoic portrait, with the Chairman in profile, smiling brightly within a jagged bubble suitable for a comic book-style ‘BANG!’. Such a rendering in Lichtenstein’s signature, bold style reflects the cartoonish characterization Chairman Mao is given in Tuten’s novel – an insecure buffoon on a mad and chaotic journey – while Tuten’s decision to feature a Pop Art-style depiction of a Communist leader on the cover of his book a reifies the elements of pastiche, parody, incongruity and contradictoriness that defines the novel’s structure. Notably, Lichtenstein’s Mao also preceded Andy Warhol’s famed canvases of the same subject by a year, indicating the often-overlapping preoccupations of post-war Pop in the United States.
Source: Phillips
Auction Results
Phillips New-York: 21 October 2025
Estimated: USD 18,000 – 25,000
USD 16,770
Mao (C. 104), 1971
Lithograph in colors on Arches paper
(there was also an unknown number of artist’s proofs)
Co-published by Richard Kasak and Citadel Press, Inc., New York
With the artist’s blindstamp
Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein
Sotheby’s New-York: 26 September 2025
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 20,000
USD 40,640
AUCTION RECORD FOR MAO
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Mao (Corlett 104), 1971
Lithograph printed in colors on Arches wove paper
Signed and dated ’71 (lower right); numbered 15/150 (lower left)
LA Modern: 10 January 2024
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 20,000
USD 20,640
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923–1997)
Mao, 1971
Lithograph in colors on Arches
Signed, dated and numbered to lower edge ‘147/150 rf Lichtenstein 71’
Phillips New-York: 26 October 2023
Estimated: USD 15,000 -20,000
USD 19,050
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Mao (C. 104), 1971
Lithograph in colors on Arches paper with full margins.
Signed, dated and numbered 147/150 in pencil
Bonhams New-York: 12 May 2022
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 25,500
Lithograph in colors on Arches paper
Signed in pencil, dated and numbered 145/150
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 20,000
USD 20,000
Lithograph in colors on Arches paper
Signed, dated and numbered to lower edge ‘145/150 Roy Lichtenstein 71’