Fragment of a Temple Wall Painting

Object Details

• Provenance

  Possibly originally located in the Kuan-Yin Temple of Yu Vouen-sang, Henan province, China [1]

  From 1923 to at least 1949

  C. T. Loo & Company, Paris and New York, 1923 [2]

  From at least 1972 to 1987

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987), New York, from at least 1972 [3]

  From 1987

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, gift of Arthur M. Sackler, on September 11, 1987 [4]

  Notes:

  [1] A related painting in the Honolulu Academy of Arts’ collection (acc. no. 2692) supposedly came from the Kuan-Yin Temple of Yu Vouen-sang, Henan province. This information is based on notes on the original registrar card.

  In an article published in 1928, Osvald Sirén stated that the provenance of these wall paintings was said to be Yu Vouen-sang but he noted that “this information may or may not be correct,” see Osvald Sirén, “The Chinese Pavilion of C. T. Loo & Co. and Its Fresco Paintings,” Pantheon (November 1928), pp. 548-549.

  [2] In his introduction to Chinese Frescoes of Northern Sung, exh. cat. (New York: C. T. Loo, Inc., 1949), C. T. Loo described the circumstances of acquisition of the exhibited wall paintings, including Bodhisattva and Dark-skinned Figure (exhibited under cat. 14).

  According to this account, during his visit to China in 1923 Loo received information from his supplier about wall-paintings’ fragments in a ruined temple somewhere near the Henan-Shanxi border.

  After negotiations with local authorities, the wall paintings were removed from the debris and Loo transferred them to Paris. See Laurence Sickman, “An Early Chinese Wall-Painting Newly Discovered,” Artibus Asiae vol. 15, no. 1/2 (1952), pp. 137-144.

  By 1928 the paintings were installed in Loo’s gallery in Paris, see Osvald Sirén, “The Chinese Pavilion of C. T. Loo & Co. and Its Fresco Paintings,” Pantheon (November 1928), pp. 544-552.

  According to Sickman, they were brought to New York in 1948.

  [3] The painting was accessioned to Arthur M. Sackler’s collection in 1972.

  [4] Pursuant to the agreement between Dr. Arthur M. Sackler and the Smithsonian Institution, dated July 28, 1982, legal title of the donated objects was transferred to the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery on September 11, 1987.

• Collection

  Arthur M. Sackler Collection

• Exhibition History

  Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice Across Asia (October 14, 2017 to February 6, 2022)

• Previous custodian or owner

  C.T. Loo & Company (1914-1948)

  Dr. Arthur M. Sackler (1913-1987)

• Origin

  China

• Credit Line

  Gift of Arthur M. Sackler

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

  The information presented on this website may be revised and updated at any time as ongoing research progresses or as otherwise warranted. Pending any such revisions and updates, information on this site may be incomplete or inaccurate or may contain typographical errors. Neither the Smithsonian nor its regents, officers, employees, or agents make any representations about the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or timeliness of the information on the site. Use this site and the information provided on it subject to your own judgment. The National Museum of Asian Art welcomes information that would augment or clarify the ownership history of objects in their collections.

Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  900s, 1000s

• Name

  Sackler, Arthur M., C.T. Loo & Company

• Place

  China

• Topic

  Art, Song dynasty (960 - 1279), Chinese Art, Bodhisattva, Halo

• Culture

  Buddhists, Chinese

• Object Type

  Paintings