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Gathering of the Immortals

Date
1919 or 1920
made in
China, Asia
Classification
Paintings
Collection
Asian Art
Current Location
Not on view
Dimensions
each screen: 86 3/4 × 98 5/8 in. (220.3 × 250.5 cm)
Credit Line
Funds given by Miss Helen M. Longmire, Mr. and Mrs. Stanley F. Jackes, Mrs. G. Gordon Hertslet, the Columbia Terminals Company Charitable Trust, Mrs. Clark P. Fiske, and donors to the 1983 Art Enrichment Fund
Rights
Public Domain
Object Number
42:1984.1,.2
NOTES
The artist Wang Wending portrayed the birthday of the Daoist deity Queen Mother of the West at the Flat-Peach Gathering, a decorative theme symbolic of longevity that was particularly appropriate for the sixtieth anniversary of the Li family matriarch Madame Chen, for whom it was painted. According to popular legend, the Queen Mother ruled a fairy isle where the Peaches of Immortality grew every three thousand years, and upon their ripening and harvest the Queen would celebrate her birthday. She can be found in the painting on a high seat, surrounded by maidens beneath tall, grotesquely gnarled trees. Musicians play a concert for her in the distance. Looking dour and resigned to her ever-increasing age, the Queen silently receives the congratulations and gifts of the many other immortals who come with their familiars, including the red-crowned crane, spotted deer, and white ox unicorn.
1984 -
Saint Louis Art Museum, purchased at auction at Christie's, New York, June 29, 1984, lot no. 876 [1]


Notes:
[1] Auction catalogue does not provide the name or location of the previous owner. ["Fine Classic and Contemporary Painting and Calligraphy." Christie's, New York, June 29, 1984, lot no. 876]. Minutes of the Acquisitions and Loans Committee of the Board of Trustees, Saint Louis Art Museum, November 16, 1984.

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