The Art Institute of Chicago

Couch-Bed (Luohan Chuang)Author(s): Jay XuSource: Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, Vol. 34, No. 1, Notable Acquisitions at theArt Institute of Chicago (2008), pp. 32-33, 95Published by: The Art Institute of ChicagoStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20205574 .

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Couch-Bed (Luohan chuang)

17th century

China, Late Ming (1368-1644)/

early Qing (1644-1911) dynasty Huanghuali wood with woven mat seat; 79 x 213 x 124.5 cm

(31 x 83 7/8x49 in.) G. RONALD AND EVELYN NISH FUND-IN MEMORY OF RUTH S.

DEMME. SIMEON B. WILIAMS FUND. BERTHA EVANS BROWN FUND.

ESTATE OF ALICE FEFFER. ADA TURNBULL HERTLE FUND. ALYCE

AND EDWIN DECOSTA AND THE WALTER E. HELLER FOUNDATION

FUND. ESTATE OF LAURA T. MAGNUSON; MAJOR ACQUISITIONS

CENTENNIAL FUND. 2006.14

THIS COUCH-BED WAS created in the seventeenth

century, a time when furniture making in China attained

an aesthetic zenith characterized by simple elegance, easy

grace, and perfect functionality. The piece was fashioned

from huanghuali (Dalbergia odor?fera), a hardwood that

the Ming (and later) literati treasured for its lightness and

strength, warm yellow tones, and fine, subtle grains. What

is rare, however, is that the look and construction mimic

those of simple bamboo couch-beds; this is particularly noticeable in the latticework panels that are located on

three sides of the couch and below the seat frame. In using an expensive hardwood but retaining a modest structure,

both the craftsman and the patron who hired him would

3*

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have been aiming to achieve the sort of natural, rustic

charm that appealed to the tastes of the literati; they also,

however, imbued this work with a sense of exquisiteness that was equally sought after. Literati?scholar-officials who

cherished art and the pursuit of learning?would sit on such

couch-beds to read, enjoy artworks, drink tea and wine, and

entertain guests on both formal and informal occasions.

This couch-bed is similar in design to one made of a

combination of heavy zitan wood and soft wood; that work,

formerly in the collection of the famous Chinese scholar and

collector Wang Shixiang, is now in the Shanghai Museum.

The general appearance of these two examples bears some

resemblance to the one illustrated in the Yuan dynasty

edition (1330-33) of Shilin guangji (Extensive Record of

the Forest of Facts) by the thirteenth-century writer Chen

Yuanjin. This similarity indicates that their form derives

from a much older prototype. Although he once owned

the Shanghai bed, Wang considered the Art Institute's

version to be of higher aesthetic quality, commenting, "the

huanghuali bed is simpler and more refined than the zitan

one, and was made at an earlier date."1 The acquisition of

this extraordinarily elegant and rare piece adds great depth to the Art Institute's collection of Chinese art.

jay xu

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2. Louise Schouwenberg, Hella Jongerius (Phaidon, 2003), p. 47.

Sur, Long Island City, New York, pp. 28-29. 1. For more on digital architecture and its origins, see Fr?d?ric Migayrou and

Marie-Ange Brayer, eds., Archilab: Radical Experiments in Global Architecture, exh. cat. (Thames and Hudson, 2001); and Joseph Rosa, Next Generation

Architecture: Folds, Blobs, and Boxes (Rizzoli, 2003). 2. For more on Diaz Alonso's work, see Joseph Rosa, Xefirotarch, Design Series 4, exh. cat. (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2006). 3. For more on Barney and Bacon, see Nancy Spector, Matthew Barney: The

CREMASTER Cycle, exh. cat. (Guggenheim Museum Publications/Harry N.

Abrams, 2003); and Gilles Deleuze, Frances Bacon: The Logic of Sensation, trans. Daniel W. Smith (University of Minnesota Press, 2003).

Cow Suckling a Calf, pp. 30-31. 1. For one such pastoral idyll, see Ren? Russek, Hinduismus, Bilderkanon und

Deutung (Battenberg Verlag, 1986), pp. 132-33. 2. For a second-century example in the Allahabad Museum (AM81), see

Krishna Deva and S. D. Trivedi, Stone Sculpture in the Allahabad Museum, vol. 2 (Manohar, 1996), p. 228, pi. 313; for a sandstone example from tenth-century

Agroha, now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, see Wendy Doniger and George Michell, Animals in Four Worlds: Sculptures from India (University of Chicago Press, 1989), p. 107, pi. 74.

3. For the relief in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Si44), see

Pratapaditya Pal, Indian Sculpture: A Catalogue of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art Collection, vol. 1 (Los Angeles County Museum of Art/

University of California Press, 1986), p. 271.

4. For the work in the Fitzwilliam Album, see Milo C. Beach, Early Mughal

Painting (Asia Society/Harvard University Press, 1987) pp. 31, fig. 16, 45; for

that in the Mittal Museum (76.681), see George Michell, Catherine Lampert, and Tristram Holland, eds., In the Image of Man: The Indian Perception of the

Universe through 2000 Years of Painting and Sculpture, exh. cat. (Arts Council

of Great Britain/Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1982), p. 105.

Couch-Bed(Luohan chuang), pp. 32-33. 1. Wang Shixiang and Curtis Evarts, Masterpieces from the Museum of Classical

Chinese Furniture (Chinese Art Foundation, 1995), p. 12, cat. 6.

Chaekkori,pp. 34-35. i. This entry was greatly informed by Kay E. Black and Edward W. Wagner, "Ch'aekkori Paintings: A Korean Jigsaw Puzzle," Archives of Asian Art 46

(I993)> PP- 63-75; and William Lipton and Yvonne Wong, "A Folding Screen

of Eight Paintings: Ch'aekkori," in Welcoming the Autumn Breeze, exh. cat.

(William Lipton, Ltd., 2004), n.pag, cat. 15.

The First Part of the Return from Parnassus and The Second Part of the Return

from Parnassus, pp. 40-41. 1. Kirk Varnedoe, "Inscriptions in Arcadia," in Cy Twombly: A Retrospective, exh. cat. (Museum of Modern Art, New York/Harry N. Abrams, 1994), p. 34. 2. Ibid., p. 36.

Wall Drawing #274, Wall Drawing #574, Wall Drawing #821, and Wall

Drawing #1257: Scribbles, pp. 42-43. Wall Drawing #63 is shown as described in LeWitt's original diagram; Wall

Drawing #274 was first drawn by Steingrem Laursen and Sol LeWitt and

is shown in its first installation at Gentofte Kommunes Kunstbibliotek,

Copenhagen, Sept. 1975; Wall Drawing #574 was first drawn by Fransje Killaars and Hans van Koolwijk and is shown in its first installation at

Accademia, Bonnefantenmusem, Maastricht, Oct. 1988; Wall Drawing #821 was

first drawn by Artistides D? Leon, Sachiko Cho, Derek Edwards, Naomi Fox,

Henry Levine, Sunhee Lim, Jason Livingston, Emil Memon, Travis Molkenbur, and Caroline Rothwell and is shown in its first installation at Ace Gallery,

New York, Apr. 1997; Wall Drawing #1257: Scribbles was first drawn by Takeshi Arita, Eileen Jeng, and Jason Stec and is shown in its first installation at

the Art Institute of Chicago, Mar. 2008. 1. Bernice Rose, "Sol LeWitt and Drawing," in Sol LeWitt: The Museum of

Modern Art, ed. Alicia Legg, exh. cat (Museum of Modern Art, 1978), p. 31.

Woman in Tub, pp. 44-45. 1. Jeff Koons, quoted in JeffKoons, ed. Angelika Muthesius (Taschen, 1992), p. 122.

2. Jeff Koons, quoted in The Jeff Koons Handbook, ed. Sadie Coles and Robert

Violette (Anthony D'Offay Gallery, 1992), p. 100.

Gold Mats, Paired?for Ross and Felix, Some Thames, and Were II, pp. 46-47. 1. Roni Horn, quoted in Kathleen Merrill Campagnolo, Still Water (The River

Thames, for Example) (Site Santa Fe, 2000), n.pag.

Queen Luise of Prussia, pp. 60-61. i. For more on Rauch's effigy, see Jutta von Simson, Christian Daniel Rauch:

Oeuvre-Katalog (Mann, 1996), pp. 64-69. On Schadow's career in general, see

G?tz Eckhardt, Johann Gottfried Schadow, 1764-1850: Der Bildhauer (E. A.

Seemann, 1990).

Festival in Montmartre, pp. 62-63. 1. Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, "Fondazione a manifesto del Futurismo," Le Figaro, Feb. 20 1909; repr. in Futurismo, ed. Umbro Apollonio (Gabriele Mazzotta Editore, 1970), p. 48. 2. Ibid., p. 47.

3. Umberto Boccioni, "La Pittura futurista?manifesto technico," Poes?a, Apr. 11 1910; repr. in ibid., p. 58. Boccioni's manifesto was signed by Baila, Carra,

Russolo, and Severini.

4. Gino Severini, Severini: The Futurist Painter Exhibits His Latest Works, exh. cat. (Marlborough Gallery, 1913), n.pag., no. 6.

Untitled, pp. 64-65. i. Even the ancient, and likely the first, pictorial reversal?the change from black

figured Greek vase painting to its "negative" in the red-figured technique?did not result in a visual abstraction of this magnitude but rather was a way to

improve the fluidity and naturalness of the figurai subject.

Birmingham, pp. 66-6j. i. Martin Luther King, Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and

Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Harper Collins, 1986), p. 546. 2. The Birmingham Police, under commissioner and Ku Klux Klan member

Eugene "Bull" Connor, were notorious for their use of violence. The U.S.

Department of Justice eventually intervened, negotiating the desegregation of

downtown stores, a new integrated city commission, and the release of all jailed student protesters in exchange for an end to the boycotts and demonstrations.

3. Even when photographs did not appear, the Birmingham demonstrations

remained front-page news. For PDF files of this coverage, see New York Times,

May 3-10, 1963, ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times

(1851-2004), www.proquest.com. 4.1 thank Gregory Harris for bringing my attention to the website www.

al.com/unseen, which features Norman Dean's photograph of Mattie Howard.

5. Back Street was a 1961 release starring Susan Hayward as an alluring mistress. Damn the Defiant is the American title of the 1962 British film H.M.S.

Defiant. Starring Alec Guinness, the movie dramatizes the mutiny on board the

British frigate Defiant, a relatively peaceful rebellion against poor conditions.

Mom Posing for Me, pp. 68-69. 1. Larry Sultan, Pictures from Home (Harry N. Abrams, 1992), p. 18. 2. Mom Posing for Me is one in a group of over thirty photographs that

represent Pictures from Home in the Art Institute's collection; this group was

determined in consultation with the artist. See Katherine Bussard, So the Story Goes: Photographs by Tina Barney, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Nan Goldin, Sally Mann, and Larry Sultan, exh. cat. (Art Institute of Chicago/Yale University Press, 2006), pp. 100-17.

3. Sultan (note 1).

The Top Grossing Film of All Time, ix i, pp. 70-71. 1. With a running time of 3 hours, 17 minutes, Titanic has over 280,000 frames.

For the artist, the film's appeal had less to do with the its box-office revenues

and everything to do with its status as a highly popular piece of mass culture. 2. See William J. Mitchell, The Reconfigured Eye: Visual Truth in the

Post-Photographic Age (MIT Press, 1992); Hubertus V. Amelunxen, ed.,

Photography after Photography: Memory and Representation in the Digital

95

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