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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.521
People
Liu Kuo Sung (Liu Guosong) 劉國松, Chinese (born 1932 )
Title
Moon on Snowy Mountains
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting, wall scroll
Date
1970
Culture
Chinese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/319251

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Vertical wall scroll; ink, color, metallic paint, and collage on paper, with artist’s signature and seal
Dimensions
painting proper: 88.9 x 59.2 cm (35 x 23 5/16 in.)
Framed: 110.49 x 78.74 x 5.08 cm (43 1/2 x 31 x 2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • Signed: Lower left, black ink: Liu Guosong (Chinese brush-written characters followed by a red seal reading "Liu Guosong")
  • inscription: dated signature brush-written in black ink at lower left: "Liu Guosong yi jiu qi ling" (Liu Guosong 1970)
  • seal: artist's square red intaglio seal, following signature: "Liu Guosong"

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Liu Guosong, Taipei (1970-by 1973?), probably gift; to Chu-tsing Li, Lawrence, Kansas (by 1973?-2012), gift; to his son B U.K. Li, Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2012-2014), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2014.

Footnotes:
1. Dr. Chu-tsing Li (1920-2014)

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Chu-tsing Li Collection, Gift of B U.K. Li in memory of Chu-tsing Li, Yao-wen Kwang Li, and Teri Ho Li
Copyright
© Liu Kuo-sung
Accession Year
2014
Object Number
2014.521
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
The bright moon floats above a remote, seemingly frozen setting of snow-covered mountains. The symmetrical composition gives the painting a formality reminiscent of a religious icon. Innovative use of collage and metallic paint heightens the icy atmosphere. This painting belongs to the celestial series Liu Guosong began after the Apollo 8 space mission.
Liu, who founded the Fifth Moon Group in 1956, played an important role as a teacher in the arts. From his earliest teaching appointment in Taiwan in 1960, through his visiting appointments at universities in the U.S. and his senior teaching and administrative appointments in Hong Kong and Taiwan, he has shaped the development of painting and energized the interplay of Chinese and Western elements.

Publication History

  • Robert D. Mowry and Claudia Brown, A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000, exh. cat., Harvard University Art Museums/Yale University Press (Cambridge, Mass., 2007), cat. 15

Exhibition History

  • A Tradition Redefined: Modern and Contemporary Chinese Ink Paintings from the Chu-tsing Li Collection, 1950-2000, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 11/03/2007 - 01/27/2008; Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, 06/28/2008 - 09/14/2008; Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, 10/11/2008 - 01/04/2009; Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, 02/11/2009 - 05/24/2009

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu