Author: Li Bing-Gui

Category：Art and Culture

Size:Length:84.9 x Width:25.5 (cm)

Size description：110x45x4(含框)

Introduction：Li Bing-Gui (1949 -) is a significant Taiwanese wood carving artist, born in Lukang, and the son of Li Song-Lin, the first recipient of the "Xin Chuan Award." Coming from a family of sculptors, his ancestor came to Taiwan from Yongchun, Fujian Province during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty to participate in the construction of Longshan Temple. Since then, the family has taken root in Taiwan. Li Bing-Gui inherited his family's craftsmanship and received the Taiwan Provincial Governor's Arts and Culture Award in 1981, the Fifth Global Culture and Art Wood Carving Xin Chuan Award in 1997, and the "Century Outstanding" honor from Changhua in 2011.
Traditional carpenters, primarily engaged in large woodwork, often played a crucial role in architectural construction, especially in traditional buildings. As times changed, traditional architecture became increasingly confined to religious buildings, and changes in building materials led to the decline of the carpentry profession. Thus, unlike Li Song-Lin's works, Li Bing-Gui's creations evolved to reflect the trends of the times, focusing more on artistic expression. He condensed the beauty of wood carving and refined its artistic appeal, ensuring that wood carving art could adapt to the changing eras.
This work is created using low relief, a technique that lies between flat and three-dimensional, with the shadows enhancing visual effects not found in flat paintings. The work features the face and right hand of Maitreya Bodhisattva, with the face turned to the right, eyes slightly downcast, and the thumb and ring finger of the right hand touching, close to the face. This image represents the "Thinking Bodhisattva," an early depiction of Maitreya Bodhisattva primarily seen in the Northern Dynasties period. This form also spread to Korea and Japan, with famous Thinking Bodhisattva statues in Chugu-ji and Kōryū-ji in Japan being considered national treasures. The statue in this piece may draw inspiration from the Japanese Thinking Bodhisattva form. Above the Bodhisattva, there is calligraphy that reads "Maitreya Bodhisattva," with a signature.

Accession Number:CR09700300

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