Dr. Yunru Chen: "Liu Songnian's (1174–1224) Luohan Triptych"
Abstract:
Held in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Luohan Triptych (1207) by Liu Songnian is the earliest extant example of court-sponsored paintings of luohan, or guardians of the Buddha’s teachings. While previous scholarship often situates this work within the regional Buddhist painting tradition of Hangzhou, the hometown of Liu, this paper presents a new perspective on Luohan Triptych by reconsidering the set as a production of the imperial painting academy where Liu worked as an artist. Revealing the intimate connections between the triptych to the visual and material culture of the court, Chen provides a fuller understanding of the genealogy of the luohan painting during the twelfth to thirteenth century.
Bio:
Dr. Yunru Chen is the Associate Curator of Painting and Calligraphy at the National Palace Museum, Taipei. She received her Ph.D. in Chinese art history from the National Taiwan University in 2009, and has published extensively on the topic of Chinese paintings. She is currently the Sylvan C. Coleman and Pamela Coleman Memorial Fund Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.