To finish out our series of the museums most popular objects, tonights Art Moment is Guaynin of the Southern Sea. Apart from the right forearm, the rest of the figure and the base were carved from the trunk of a single enormous poplar tree. This indicates the value and importance of the sculpture when it was made. Guanyin was acquired in Beijing in the 1930s by Laurence Sickman, former museum curator and director, who found it in a courtyard covered with snow.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 01:30:00 +0000