The Transformations of Laojun

Original Language TitleLao-chun pien-hua shih-shih

Artist Wang Liyong (Chinese, active 1120 - 1145)

Date12th century

MediumHandscroll; ink and color on silk

DimensionsOverall: 17 5/8 × 152 1/2 inches (44.78 × 387.35 cm)

Credit LinePurchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust

Object number48-17

On View

On view

Gallery Location

Collections

East Asian Art

Terms

Exhibition History

Oriental art exhibition, Washington University, St. Louis, January 23-March 4, 1966.

Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting, Nelson-Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, November 7, 1980 – January 4, 1981; The Cleveland Museum of Art, February 7 – April 5, 1981; The Asia Society, December 3, 1981 – February 28, 1982; Tokyo National Museum, October 4 – November 17, 1982, no. 18.

Taoism and the Arts of China, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, November 11, 2000- January 7, 2001. Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, February 21- May 13, 2001, no. 35.

La voie du Tao, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, France, March 29, 2010- July 5, 2010. no. 21.

The Sacred Tripod: Buddhism, Confucianism & Daoism in Harmony, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, February 19- August 14, 2011.

Sages and Heroes: Storytelling in Asian Art, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, April 12, 2025–November 30, 2025, no cat.

Gallery Label

The deified founder of Daoism, Laojun (Laozi), was elevated as an instructor and patron of imperial rulers by Daoist followers to gain sponsorship and to vie with Buddhism by the 1100s. To picture Laojun’s tale, artist Wang Liyong borrows a century-old narrative method by pairing the text and image in chronological order from right to left. He depicts ten manifestations of Laojun, with an inscription to the right of each image. The inscriptions credit Laojun for delivering the scriptures to the idealized sage rulers of early Chinese civilization.

Provenance

With Jean-Pierre Dubosc, Beijing, China [1];

Probably acquired from Dubosc by C. T. Loo & Co., New York, stock card no. LD-7/219, by November 1947-1948 [2];

Purchased from C. T. Loo by The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1948.

NOTES:

[1] According to documentation in the curatorial file, Dubosc was involved in the provenance of this painting, but it is unclear if Loo acquired it from Dubosc or if Dubosc was acting as Loo’s agent in China.

[2] C. T. Loo/Frank Caro archive, Musée Guimet, Paris, copy of stock card in Nelson-Atkins curatorial files.

Published References

Published in C. T. Loo 1948 catalogue, "Exhibition of Authenticated Chinese Paintings," (New York, April- May 15, 1948), catalog no. 2.

Art News, “Chinese Scrolls Signed and Sealed” (April, 1948) signed H.L.F., 39.

John Blofeld, Taoism, the Road to Immortality (London: 1948), cover.

Marc F. Wilson, “ The Chinese Painter and his Vision”, Apollo, special issue for the Asian art collection in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Vol. XCVII, no. 133 (March 1973):230-233, fig.6.

William Watson, L’Art de L’Ancienne Chine, Editions d’ Art Lucien Mazenod, (Paris, 1979), 441, no. 494-496.

Wai-Kam Ho, et al., Eight Dynasties of Chinese Painting: The Collections of the Nelson Gallery-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, and The Cleveland Museum of Art. (The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, c1980), 30-33, no. 18.

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), 315.

Stephen Little, Taoism and the Arts of China, The Art Institute of Chicago (Illinois, Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 2000), 174-176, no. 35.

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), 343, fig. 185.

Catherine Delacour, La voie du Tao, Galeries nationales du Grand Palais (Paris, France: Réunion des musées nationaux, 2010), 162-163, no. 21.

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.