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The Founding Ceremony of the Nation[edit]

Tourists take photographs of the painting
Tourists take photographs of the painting

The Founding Ceremony of the Nation is a 1953 oil painting by Chinese artist Dong Xiwen. It depicts Mao Zedong and other Communist officials inaugurating the People's Republic of China at Tiananmen Square on October 1, 1949. A prominent example of socialist realism, it is one of the most celebrated works of official Chinese art. After the Communists took control of China, they sought to memorialize their success with art. Dong was selected, and completed the painting in three months in a folk art style, drawing on historical Chinese art. The painting's success was assured when Mao viewed it and liked it, and it was widely reproduced for home display. Dong was ordered to remove Gao Gang from the painting in 1954 and Liu Shaoqi in 1967, after government purges. In 1972 a copy was made by other artists to accommodate another deletion. After the purged officials were rehabilitated, the replica was modified in 1979 to include them. Both canvases are in the National Museum of China in Beijing. (Full article...)

For the image, you can crop the original file to zoom in on the actual painting. Harizotoh9 (talk) 03:07, 10 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The painting is within copyright. Showing it this way, with tourists taking photos of it and a small portion obscured, is at least defensibly not a derivative work.--Wehwalt (talk) 12:47, 10 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The painting on exhibit with artifacts of the October 1, 1949 ceremony
Another possibility is at right, the other canvas. It's harder to tell what it is though.--Wehwalt (talk) 12:52, 10 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Oh wow, I would have just assumed that a public work in the 50's commissioned by the CCP would be public domain by now. Harizotoh9 (talk) 19:15, 12 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
No, it's a URAA matter. Dong has now been dead 50 years and the copyright has expired in China, but that was not true on the URAA restoration date of 1 January 1996 for China. Therefore, the copyright in the US will not expire until 95 years after publication, which was probably sometime in the mid-1950s, depending on when they first printed it in a publication or reproduced it for sale.--Wehwalt (talk) 19:50, 12 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
Support 750h+ 03:48, 14 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]
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