Mao portrait saved from auction, stored in museum

BEIJING, Sep 29 (Reuters) An iconic portrait of Mao Zedong, founder of Communist China, has been spared the auction block and will be permanently preserved in a museum, state media reported.

The original model for the Mao painting that hangs above Tiananmen Square was due for auction in June and had been expected to fetch as much as 150,000 dollars, but was taken off the block in May after government pressure and public outcry.

''The portrait is worth far more than its monetary value in terms of art and history,'' Chen Lusheng, a museum researcher, told Xinhua news agency.

The report did not say how much or whether Beijing's National Museum of China had paid for it.

The portrait, 91 cm high and 68.5 cm wide, was owned by a Chinese American and painted by artist Zhang Zhenshi, who was among more than 30 from across China invited to paint the ''Great Helmsman'' for the first anniversary of the People's Republic in 1950.

Thousands of Internet users expressed dismay at plans to auction the portrait of Mao, who, despite leading China through massive political and economic upheavals blamed for the deaths of millions, is still revered by many.

September 9 marked the 30th anniversary of Mao's death.

REUTERS LL HS0857