Son of Heaven 12
Li Rui
李锐
Production date
2010
Object Detail
Media
oil on canvas
Measurements
100 x 100 cm
Notes
As a young student, Li Rui was fascinated by archaeology and natural history, and by how archaeological objects and natural specimens are displayed in museums. Many of his paintings feature imagery of birds and their eggs, such as the ‘Son of Heaven’ and ‘Nest’ series in the White Rabbit Collection. The Son of Heaven in the title refers to the Chinese emperor, who was believed to rule by the Mandate of Heaven. The brilliant blue of the shiny eggs in this painting recalls the cobalt glazes used on imperial porcelain from the Tang Dynasty. For Li Rui, the eggs symbolise both birth and death, and therefore are connected with the fluxing reciprocal relationships between yin and yang. By placing his painted nest within a shallow box, he is also suggesting the intervention of human artifice in the natural world.
Accession number
2014.079