Warhol never stopped painting entirely, but for roughly four years after he was shot and almost killed, the only paintings he made were a handful of commissioned portraits. In 1972 he shifted focus back to the medium with his iconic portrait of Mao Zedong, chairman of the People’s Republic of China. This painting, one of four Mao portraits towering nearly 15 feet tall, mimics the images of the political figure that were ubiquitous in China but introduced to the West when they were reproduced in the widely distributed “Little Red Book” of Mao’s quotations. Warhol applied garishly colored makeup to Mao’s sanctioned portrait, not unlike the treatments of Liz Taylor and Marilyn Monroe made earlier in his career. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #relishthisjourney #museum #artmuseum #portrait #artofinstagram #artstagram #Andywarhol #visitchicago #painting #observe #couple #photographer #couplegoals #whereswaldo #mao #china #people #peopleofinstagram #wander #instachicago #chi_shooters #chicago #chicagobucketlist #artist #artinstitutechi #chicagogrammers #lifestylechicago #chicagolifestyle #igerschicago #peoplewatching (at The Art Institute of Chicago) https://www.instagram.com/p/B7ri8GJH_QP/?igshid=xx5yava17qmb