Career
In 1964, Wang was chosen to replace Zhang Zhenshi as the lead painter of the giant portrait of Mao Zedong hung on the Tiananmen (Gate of Heavenly Peace) in Beijing.[2] The portrait, measuring 20 by 15 feet (6.1 m × 4.6 m), is about three stories high[3][4] and weighs about a metric ton.[2] Although a portrait of Mao had hung on the Tiananmen since 1949, Wang was the first artist to paint the portrait by himself; all the previous versions were completed by a team of painters.[1] His first portrait was displayed on the Tiananmen on 1 May 1964.[1]
Although the job was considered one of the highest honours for a painter in China, Wang lived in obscurity as he was not allowed to put his name on the painting.[3][4] Because the portrait is exposed to the elements, Wang painted an identical replacement every year. In late September, just before the National Day of China, the old portrait would be taken down in the night and replaced with the new one.[3][4] Besides Mao, he also painted portraits of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Vladimir Lenin, and Joseph Stalin.[2]
During the Cultural Revolution, Wang was persecuted because of his "capitalist" family background and for painting Mao from an angle with only one visible ear. He was accused of implying that Mao only listened to a few people and not the general public. Although Wang argued that the painting was based on a photo issued by the government from which he was not allowed to deviate, he was still publicly humiliated in a struggle session and was sent to work as a carpenter at a framing factory for two years.[3][4] Throughout the period, he continued to paint the official Mao portrait, now with two ears.[3]