Now, what impression do young people have of Chairman Mao's appearance, probably from the photos in books, or the images on the renminbi, and those who have been to Tiananmen, should all know that there is also a portrait of Chairman Mao hanging on the tower of Tiananmen.
At the time of the founding ceremony of chairman Mao on Tiananmen Square, there were still some twists and turns in the selection of the portrait and the final choice. Urgently, on the eve of the meeting ceremony, the portrait was finalized with an extra line, and Zhou Enlai immediately ordered it to be changed immediately after seeing it. This made everyone sweat for the portrait.
Select the person who will be depicted
Speaking of this portrait, it is necessary to mention its author, Zhou Lingzhao, who may know zhou Lingzhao relatively few people, but if you mention his other works, such as the Communist Youth League flag, the Young Pioneers flag and the renminbi, these are all works he participated in creating. Then, this painter, who is known as the designer of the national image, was also very nervous and cautious when he painted a portrait of Chairman Mao.
Zhou Lingzhao, born in 1919 in Pingjiang County, Hunan Province, since childhood like to paint, like art, he liked art, at the age of 13, he was admitted to the Hunan Changsha Huazhong Art College, and later he also did stage art design, participated in the anti-enemy drama team. In the cause of painting, there have been many achievements. In 1948, Zhou Lingzhao also served at the Beiping National Art College at the invitation of Xu Beihong, and also cultivated many art talents for the country. In 1949, Zhou Lingzhao joined the Communist Party.
Before the founding ceremony, when choosing a painter to paint a portrait of Chairman Mao, Premier Zhou Enlai found Zhou Lingzhao by chance. At that time, it was because premier Zhou Enlai was eating at the Six Kingdoms Hotel, where a portrait of Chairman Mao hung there. Zhou Enlai saw it at a glance, and he thought that the painting was very vivid and realistic, and the essence of Chairman Mao's appearance was painted.
So he asked who the author of the portrait was, and then he knew who Zhou Lingzhao was, and Premier Zhou became curious about Zhou Lingzhao, and when he learned about Zhou Lingzhao's experience that day, he knew that when he led the students to paint many propaganda posters and slogans, Premier Zhou found some of his past works, and finally felt that the task of painting Chairman Mao was none other than Zhou Lingzhao.
However, for the sake of prudence, he still consulted Xu Beihong and others, and everyone felt that Zhou Lingzhao could be competent for this arduous and glorious task, so the person who painted the portrait decided on Zhou Lingzhao.
Paintings that strive for excellence
The portrait of Chairman Mao that Zhou Lingzhao needed to paint was already the third edition of Chairman Mao's portrait on the upper floor of Tiananmen Square, and what kind of photo to choose was the most difficult question at that time, what kind of photo was suitable for enlargement and painting on Tiananmen, suitable for display at this founding ceremony, and in line with the image of New China.
So they thought about it again and again, and chose a photo of Chairman Mao and Zhu Rui in Yan'an, which showed Chairman Mao smiling and wearing an octagonal hat, and everyone thought this photo was very appropriate.
Then Zhou Lingzhao began to create, but before creating, the size of the portrait and the actual situation were measured, and in order to ensure that it was very accurate, they measured it over and over again, and finally determined the size of the portrait with a height of six meters and a width of 4.6 meters.
Of course, the portraits hanging on the upper floors of Tiananmen Square cannot be made of ordinary drawing paper or canvas, which is spliced with iron sheets. For such a huge painting, in order to be able to paint this painting better, at the time when there was no elevator at all, Zhou Lizhao erected a three-story scaffolding in the corresponding position, just to be able to create better.
Zhou Lingzhao adopted the square enlargement method, he compared the proportions of the photo to fill the small grid, and then drew a first draft on the paper, which was also drawn according to the proportion of the small grid, and then enlarged it and painted it in the same grid form on the canvas of the Tiananmen Tower.
In order to make the painting more perfect, Zhou Lingzhao led the team to sketch and draw the bottom again and again, and enlarged the grid again and again, when the portrait was painted according to Chairman Mao on the photo, and the people who saw this painting were all said to be very similar.
But Marshal Nie Rongzhen, while seeing this painting and praising it, put forward a new idea, at that time, in the photo, Chairman Mao's wind discipline buckle was not tied, it was open, the whole photo, there was more than enough, but it was not serious enough, so Nie Shuai said: The wind discipline buckle is still good.
Zhou Lingzhao thought about it again and again, and felt that Nie Shuai was right, so he revised the painting and buttoned Chairman Mao.
After the manuscript is finished, it is colored, and this project is completed by Zhou Lingzhao and his wife Chen Ruoju, Zhou Lingzhao is responsible for painting details, and Chen Ruoju is responsible for adding color. In this way, they changed and changed, painted and painted, and worked on this little scaffolding for more than two weeks, sometimes bringing dry food directly with them for the sake of painting.
By the time they finally finished the portrait, it was September 30th. When everyone was relieved, Premier Zhou Enlai stood in front of this painting in the evening, did not move for a long time, looked at the line "serving the people" on the portrait, and immediately sent someone to tell Zhou Lingzhao that this line must be removed immediately.
When Zhou Lingzhao heard about this, he was already lying on the bed resting, but he did not delay at all, immediately got up, took all the tools, and rushed to the portrait again.
Zhou Lingzhao boarded the scaffolding again, in the night, little by little, to modify the painting, to remove these words, so that they look like they never appeared, in order to pursue perfection, he revised little by little, so that the color covered up and looked no different from the surroundings, he had already reached the second day, and the sunrise made this painting perfect.
Catching up with the founding ceremony, this solemn portrait appeared in the center of Tiananmen Square. On the afternoon of October 1, when Chairman Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China on the upper floor of Tiananmen Square, directly above the painting, this was Zhou Lingzhao's proudest moment, when he was only 30 years old.
epilogue
Today, the portrait of Chairman Mao that we see on the upper floor of Tiananmen Square has been reprinted many times, and each time there has been a change, and each edition has been completed by the author of the main writer and his team with a lot of painstaking efforts, from the selection of maps to the adjustment of colors to the materials of the bottom plate, which have been studied very carefully and carefully.
It is precisely because of their efforts that we can now see the portraits of Chairman Mao that can embody the national image of our country, and although these painters have never fought on the battlefield, their spirit is still worthy of our respect.
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