Beauties and Heroes: Legends and Stories in Chinese Art
(from 21st Jan until 15th Jul 2012)Explore paintings, prints and papercuts depicting legendary figures from Chinese folklore.
The immortal Magu with a crane
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Description
Magu is a female immortal related to longevity in Chinese mythology. It is said that she looks young and pretty even though she has seen the sea become land three times, a concept which signals the passage of time. Here she is depicted as a Tang dynasty figure, although she is painted in a sweeping calligraphic style rather than in the fine conventions of Tang figure painting.
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Details
- Associated place
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Asia › China › Jiangsu province › Nanjing (place of creation)
- Date
- 1986
- Material and technique
- ink and colour on paper
- Dimensions
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frame 101 x 60.5 x 2.5 cm (height x width x depth)
painting 68 x 45.5 cm (height x width)
- Material index
- Technique index
- Object type index
- No. of items
- 1
- Credit line
- Presented in honour of the forthcoming 70th birthdays of Jose Mauricio and Angelita Trinidad Reyes, 1995.
- Accession no.
- EA1995.268
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Further reading
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 24 September-1 December 1996, Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, Vainker, Shelagh (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 1996), no. 104 on p. 77, p. 9, illus. p. 76 fig. 104
Past Exhibition
see (1)
Location
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- currently in research collection
Objects are sometimes moved to a different location. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis. Contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular object on display, or would like to arrange an appointment to see an object in our reserve collections.
Publications online
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Modern Chinese Paintings: The Reyes Collection in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Magu is a female immortal in Chinese mythology and is depicted here as a Tang figure, though she is painted in a sweeping calligraphic style rather than in the fine conventions of Tang figure painting. Xu Lele studied at Nanjing Academy of Painting and her style derives from the Shanghai School painters Ren Xiong (1820-57) and Ren Yi (1840-95).
Notice
Objects from past exhibitions may have now returned to our stores or a lender. Click into an individual object record to confirm whether or not an object is currently on display. Our object location data is usually updated on a monthly basis, so please contact the Jameel Study Centre if you are planning to visit the museum to see a particular Eastern Art object.
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