Guanyin Bodhisattva

CultureChinese

Dateca. 951-953 C.E.

MediumTempera on clay

DimensionsOverall: 69 1/16 × 35 × 1 inches (175.42 × 88.9 × 2.54 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mr. C. T. Loo

Object number50-64 B

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

DescriptionStanding figure with proper right arm flexed, left arm held down, with long- stemmed lotus held between thumb and index finger. flowing scarves painted in vermilion, green, light-blue, pale ochre, and aubergine, adorned with jewelry and elaborate headdress with seated figure of Amida Buddha in crown. off-white.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

When a small break in Two Bodhisattvas Burning Ritual Incense (50-64 A) revealed color within the clay foundation, Museum conservators determined that the painting had been done on a surface plastered over a previous work. The two paintings were carefully separated and revealed this bodhisattva of an earlier period. Because this painting was preserved under the mud plaster, the colors remain fresh. Some areas have been restored to integrate the composition. This earlier painting is rendered in a much simpler style than the other two. It incorporates broader areas of color but simplifies the surface decoration. The figure in the shape of a fluid "S" curve resembles many Tang dynasty sculptures. These stylistic elements suggest that it predates the images in the other two paintings.

Provenance

With C. T. Loo, Inc., New York, by 1950;

Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1950.

Published References

Laurence Sickman, “An Early Chinese Wall-Painting Newly Discovered,” Artibus Asiae, vol. XV, ½ (1952), 142-143, fig. 3-4, 147, fig. 5 (repro.).

“Two Frescoes For One: Museum Gets Rare Chinese Mural, Finds Rarer One Underneath,” Life Magazine, vol. 35 (October 5, 1953):152 (repro.).

Winifred Shields, “A Miracle in Art at Nelson Gallery,” The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Missouri), March 1, 1953, G (repro.).

“Hidden Goddess” Time, vol. LXI, no. 11 (March 16, 1953): 76 (repro.).

Fritz Neugass, “Die sensationelle Entdeckung eines kostbaren frühchinesischen Freskos,” Die Weltkunst xxiv, no. 1 (January 1, 1954), 11 (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, ed., Handbook of the Collections in the William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 4th ed. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1959), 195 (repro.).

Ross E. Taggart, George L. McKenna, and Marc F. Wilson, eds., Handbook of the Collections in The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, Missouri, vol. II, Art of the Orient. (Kansas City, MO: William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, 1973), 48 (repro.).

Roger Ward and Patricia J. Fidler, eds., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection (New York: Hudson Hills Press, in association with Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 1993), 313 (repro.).

Deborah Emont Scott, ed., The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art: A Handbook of the Collection, 7th ed. (Kansas City, MO: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2008), 333, fig. 157 (repro.).

Information about a particular artwork or image, including provenance information, is based upon historic information and may not be currently accurate or complete. Research on artwork and images is an ongoing process, and the information about a particular artwork or image may not reflect the most current information available to the Museum. If you notice a mistake or have additional information about a particular artwork or image, please e-mail provenance@nelson-atkins.org.