Date: 1967
Size: 30 x 20 inches
Artist: People's Fine Arts Publishing House
Propaganda posters of Mao Zedong can be traced back to the 1940s, but the god-like images of him produced in the 1960s are unparalleled. According to chineseposters.net "the Army became responsible for art. This art should unite and educate the people, inspire the struggle of revolutionary people and eliminate the bourgeoisie. [...] Proletarian ideology, communist morale and spirit, revolutionary heroism were the messages of a new type of hyper-realism that took precedence over style and technique and that differed in all aspects from art creation until then. In the PLA paintings of the time, the color red featured heavily; it symbolized everything revolutionary, everything good and moral; the color black, on the other hand, signified precisely the opposite. Color symbolism continued to be important in the following years, not only in visual propaganda, but in printed propaganda as well."
This poster's caption translates to: "The vast world of great accomplishments," while the white characters on the black background read: "Quoting Chairman Mao's knowledge of youth to the countryside, it is necessary for the re-education of peasants." Professionally linen backed, this poster is a 1980s reprint of the 1967 first-edition propaganda poster.