Oil painting showing leader Mao looking at a "urinal" under fire

An oil painting that shows former Chinese leader Mao Zedong looking at a “urinal” is the latest artwork in M+ Museum's collection targeted by criticisms. 

The painting was by Beijing-based artist Shi Xinning, depicting Mao looking at a urinal sculpture named "Fountain" by French artist Marcel Duchamp.

The painting named “Duchamp Retrospective Exhibition in China” is one of the 1510 art pieces under the museum's "M+ Sigg collection", which faced criticism from state-owned Ta Kung Wen Wei media for “uglifying and defaming the country leader”. 

Both Ta Kung Pao and Wen Wei Po published articles today criticizing The M+ museum for using 1.2 billion of public funding to “randomly buy fake artworks”.

The articles stated that former Swiss ambassador to China Uli Sigg, under a part-gift part-purchased arrangement, sold part of his collection - 47 pieces -  for HK$177 million to the museum. 

“However many pieces of the collection involve slander and humiliation against the Chinese government,” The article stated.

It pinpointed Shi Xinning’s painting and one of Ai Weiwei’s art pieces that give the finger in front of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

Another article from Ta Kung Pao accused M+ museum’s collection of not meeting its acquisition policy's ethic and standards. Stating that some pieces of the museum's collection contain “undesirable social values”.

The article pinpointed that the museum-owned Uli Sigg’s collection contains pieces that "challenge China's dignity and violates moral bottom line".

Adding that it contains nudes, “group sex” photos, or even “disturbing art works with pedophilic conscious”.