That’s what State friends are for, right? Gifting larger than life pictures of their dead founding father, who is part of your shared political lineage. Or, come to think of it, in this particular case, the painting is more of the consolation prize, given that it came on the heels of the Soviets pulling out all economic and military support for the PRC. It was perhaps Brezhnev’s way of saying: “You wanted to know how to make a nuclear bomb, how about a picture of Lenin instead?”
Everyday Life in Mao's China 