An iconic portrait of late revolutionary leader Mao Zedong was acquired by the National Museum of China on Wednesday morning after plans to auction it last spring were called off under pressure.

Zhang Bai, deputy director with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said the portrait will be permanently preserved in the National Museum.

The Administration and the National Museum co-financed the purchase of the portrait, according to Zhang.

Beijing Huachen Auction Co. had planned to auction the painting of Mao Zedong that hung above Beijing's Tian'anmen rostrum in the 1950s and 1960s in its spring auction season this year, but canceled the auction following "advice from the government" and amid public criticism.

The portrait, 91 centimeters high and 68.5 centimeters wide, was painted in the 1950s by Mao portraitist Zhang Zhenshi. Posters of the work were made and circulated throughout the country.

The painting, owned by a Chinese American, was expected to bring about one million yuan (125,000 U.S. dollars) to 1.2 million yuan at the planned auction, the Beijing News reported on Thursday.

Zhang was born in 1914 and died in 1992. In 1950, he was among more than 30 painters from around the country invited to create a new portrait of Mao to mark the first anniversary of the People's Republic of China.

Source: Xinhua