Paul Calle (1928 - 2010) and Chris Calle (B. 1961) "1940s - New China Is Proclaimed". Signed lower right. Original Mixed Media painting on Illustration Board Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting is the original painting which appeared on the Republic of the Marshall Islands The 20th Century series 60c New China is Proclaimed stamp issued November 16, 1998. On February 12, 1912, the boy emperor Pu Yi was forced to abdicate the throne -- ending the 267-year-old Qing dynasty and two millennia of feudal monarchy and empire. Sun Yat-sen, the leader of the Nationalist movement, was elected provisional president. During the 1920s, the Communist Party and the Kuomintang (National People's Party) began a fierce struggle to control China. When Japanese forces invaded the Chinese mainland in 1933, the two parties entered into an uneasy truce in order to oppose the new aggressor. By the end of World War II, China's two parties resumed hostilities and Civil War ensued. A strong leader, Mao Zedong, had risen to leadership of the Communist Party. Led by Chairman Mao, the communists forced the Kuomintang to flee to Taiwan. On October 1, 1949, Mao proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China from Tiananmen, Beijing. Image Size: 11 x 15.25 in. Overall Size: 15.25 x 19 in. Unframed. (B16215 / B16216)