Water-Moon Avalokiteshvara (Suwol Gwaneum bosal)
date: label: Date
content: mid-14th century
label: Period
content: Goryeo period
notes: label: Label
content: This painting, executed in ink, colors, and gold on silk, follows the same Chinese prototype as numerous other surviving examples executed in Korea during the late Goryeo period. The willow branch is held in a small vase to the side of the Bodhisattva. The small figure in a devotional pose may represent an allusion to passage in the Avatamsaka sutra. The details of this painting, from the elegant pose of the deity to the delicate use of color to render elements of the costume are characteristic of Korean Buddhist painting at the peak of its development. Touches of gold highlight the landscapes in a typically decorative manner.
label: Provenance
content: To 1902
label: Provenance
content: Yamanaka & Company, to April 15, 1902 [1]
label: Provenance
content: From 1902 to 1903
label: Provenance
content: Charles Gillot (1853-1903), Paris, purchased from Yamanaka & Company on April 15, 1902 [2]
label: Provenance
content: From 1904 to 1919
label: Provenance
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919), purchased through Siegfried Bing (1838-1905), from the sale of the Charles Gillot Collection, Paris, Galerie Durand-Ruel, Collection Ch. Gillot: objets d'art et peintures d'extreme-orient, February 8-13, 1904, lot 2004 (ill.) [3]
label: Provenance
content: From 1920
label: Provenance
content: Freer Gallery of Art, gift of Charles Lang Freer in 1920 [4]
label: Provenance
content: Notes:
label: Provenance
content: [1] A label accompanying the painting indicates that Charles Gillot purchased the painting from the Japanese dealer, Yamanaka & Company, on April 15, 1902. See also, Curatorial Remark 8 in the object record, which states, "A paper accompanying the painting seems to indicate that Gillot had purchased the painting from the Japanese dealer, Yamanaka, in 1902."
label: Provenance
content: [2] See note 1.
label: Provenance
content: [3] See undated folder sheet note. See L. 31, Original Panel List, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. After Gillot’s death in 1903, a sale of his Asian art collection took place in February 1904 at the Durand-Ruel gallery in Paris. This object was purchased by Siegfried Bing for Charles Lang Freer at that sale (see Curatorial Remark 1 and Curatorial Remark 8, A. Yonemura, September 1983, in the object record).
label: Provenance
content: [4] The original deed of Charles Lang Freer's gift was signed in 1906. The collection was received in 1920 upon the completion of the Freer Gallery.
label: Collection
content: Freer Gallery of Art Collection
label: Exhibition History
content: Sacred Dedication: A Korean Buddhist Masterpiece (September 21, 2019 to March 13, 2020)
label: Exhibition History
content: Goryeo Buddhist Paintings: A Closer Look (February 25 to May 28, 2012)
label: Exhibition History
content: Studies in Connoisseurship 1923-1983 (September 23, 1983 to March 1, 1984)
label: Exhibition History
content: Korean Art (July 15, 1981 to September 15, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Korean Art (March 20, 1980 to March 3, 1981)
label: Exhibition History
content: Korean Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to October 13, 1978)
label: Exhibition History
content: Korean Art (June 24, 1977 to April 8, 1978)
label: Exhibition History
content: Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Painting and Sculpture (November 15, 1944 to February 25, 1956)
label: Exhibition History
content: Stone Sculpture, Buddhist Bronze, and Chinese Painting (May 2, 1923 to February 25, 1956)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Yamanaka and Co. 山中商会 (1917-1965) (C.L. Freer source)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Gillot (1853-1903)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Charles Lang Freer (1854-1919)
label: Previous custodian or owner
content: Siegfried Bing (1838-1905)
place: label: Origin
content: Korea
topic: label: Topic
content: Buddhism
label: Topic
content: bodhisattva
label: Topic
content: Goryeo period (918 - 1392)
label: Topic
content: Avalokiteshvara
label: Topic
content: willow tree
label: Topic
content: Korea
label: Topic
content: halo
label: Topic
content: Korean Art
label: Topic
content: Charles Lang Freer collection
setName: label: Related Online Resources
content: Google Arts & Culture
label: See more items in
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Charles Lang Freer
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: F1904.13
objectType: label: Type
content: Painting
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: CC0
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: Ink, color and gold on silk
label: Dimensions
content: H x W (image): 98.3 x 47.7 cm (38 11/16 x 18 3/4 in)