The original painting that served as a model for the portrait of late Chairman Mao that hung in Tian'anmen Square during the 50s and 60s will be up for auction in early June and is expected to fetch at least one million yuan (US$124,800).

Workers display the portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong at an auction preview in Beijing May 17, 2006. [Xinhua]

Created in the early 1950s by Mao portraitist Zhang Zhenshi, the painting is 91 cm long and 68.5 cm wide. Posters of the portrait were made and circulated throughout the country.

Collected from a Chinese American collector, the portrait is open to bidders at home and abroad at the auction.

The buyer is allowed to take it out of the country, said the auction organizer.