AKU-2024-077

Atelier Orient-Okzident, Frankfurt / Beijing

Portrait of the Water King (After Song Dynasty Tradition)

2023

White marble, hand-carved

68 × 42 × 38 cm

Acquisition

Purchased, 2024

Curator’s Note

Executed in Sichuan white marble, the bust follows the formal conventions of Song Dynasty imperial portraiture: a downcast, composed gaze; high, smooth forehead; robing rendered in shallow relief folds. At the base of the collar, carved in low relief 2mm deep, the mountain-and-sun logotype of Nongfu Spring appears. The subject, Zhong Shanshan, was identified by Forbes as the wealthiest individual in Asia in the year of carving. He has not been notified of the work's existence.

Exhibition

Corporate Bodies: Sculpture and Power