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 achievements
through artworks. Dong was commissioned, and completed the oil painting
in three months in a folk art style, drawing on historical Chinese art.
The success of the painting was assured when Mao viewed it and liked it,
and it was reproduced in large numbers for display in homes. Dong was
ordered to remove Gao Gang from the painting in 1954 and Liu Shaoqi in
1967, after government purges. In 1972 a reproduction was painted 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.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Founding_Ceremony_of_the_Nation>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1832:
The first political gathering of colonists in Mexican Texas
convened to seek reforms from the Mexican government in hopes of
quelling the widespread belief that settlers in Texas wished to secede
from Mexico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convention_of_1832>
1861:
Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, a book on
housekeeping and cooking which remains in print today, was first
published in London.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrs_Beeton%27s_Book_of_Household_Management>
1910:
A large bomb destroyed the Los Angeles Times building in Los
Angeles, killing 21 people.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles_Times_bombing>
1975:
In boxing, Muhammad Ali defeated Joe Frazier in a match known
as the "Thrilla in Manila".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrilla_in_Manila>
1987:
Denmark became the first country to legalise civil unions
between same-sex couples.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Denmark>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
songcraft:
(music) The practice or skill of crafting or composing songs.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/songcraft>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Virtue is not a mushroom, that springeth up of itself in one night
when we are asleep, or regard it not; but a delicate plant, that groweth
slowly and tenderly, needing much pains to cultivate it, much care to
guard it, much time to mature it, in our untoward soil, in this world's
unkindly weather.
--Isaac Barrow
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Barrow>