Thangka

Our lives are closely connected with an art. People easily regard an artwork as something that is far from our lives, but it is always around us. Now, I would like to introduce one of Buddhist artworks of Korea. The title is Pensive Bodhisattva. The artist is unknown. However, it was made in mid-7th century during the Three Kingdom Period. The dimension of this artwork is 8 7/8-inch and the medium is gilt bronze. It is located in Gallery 233 among other Korean artworks at the Metropolitan Museum of Art now.

In comparing The Tibetan Mandala and the Navajo Sand painting the sand drawings are from different cultures, yet their purpose is the same. A better understanding and appreciation comes with looking at these works.

By comparing The Thirteen Emperors (seventh century A.D) (Figure 1) by Yan Liben (600-673), ink and color on silk, is currently at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and Xie Huan (1377-1452)’s Elegant Gathering in the Apricot Garden (ca. 1437) (Figure 2), ink and color on silk, is currently at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Both artists used the same subject matter (hand roll), and employed a different repetitive process they convey two distinct ideas; the differences between thirteen emperors in Yan and the idea of confucianism in Huan.

In this essay I will be discussing about the different art styles between ancient China and the world of Islam. First off, let's go over ancient China. China has been creating pottery way before the invention of the potter's wheel, hence the reason I think they have a great deal of art in pottery and stoneware. China excelled in objects such as bronze, jade, and silk. Architecturally, ancient China had buildings that featured interlocking clusters of wood brackets, rafters, and tile roofing. In ancient China the painted scrolls they often used vivid colors and showed faces or bodies. Lastly China at this time was very into Buddhism, as buddha is seen in a lot of the art dated back to the ancient times. Now to go over the world of Islam. Islam has a lot of art put into their buildings.

In the eyes of the Buddhist, Ma Yuan’s painting could be considered beautiful because of its representation of the Buddhist goal of achieving enlightenment. In Buddhist philosophy, the ultimate objective is to leave samsara, or the earthly existence, and reach nirvana, which is the escape from samsara. While the path to nirvana varies depending on the branch of Buddhism, a key aspect of achieving enlightenment is relieving oneself from suffering. The Four Noble Truths explain that all life is suffering, which caused by desire, and in

A thangka, thanka or tanka is a Tibetan Buddhist painting made on cotton, or silk appliqué using natural pigments usually representing a Buddhist deity, scene, or mandala. Thangkas are traditionally kept unframed and rolled up when not on display, mounted on a textile backing somewhat in the style of Chinese scroll paintings, with an additional silk cover on the front. Thangkas can last a long time, but because of their delicate nature, they have to be kept in dry places where moisture will not affect the quality of the silk. Most thangkas are somewhat small, comparable in size to a Western half-length portrait, but some are extremely large, several meters in each dimension; these were designed to be displayed, typically for very brief

This paper will employ close visual analysis of the The Vase that was created by skilled craftsmen [Tang dynasty (618–907)] describing how it’s minimalist design represents that it was a time when they focused on non-controversial themes when painting.

Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South and Madonna Enthroned are very similar images that were produced by very different cultures. Both images were produced during the 13th Century. The image of Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South was produced in Tibet during an interesting period of the country’s religious history. The branch of Tibetan Buddhism is led by a religious and sometimes political leader called the Dalai Lama. It was during the 13th Century during the reign of Kublai Khan, around the time of the production of this painting, that Tibet experienced the first incarnation of the Dalai Lama. One has to wonder if this painting is somehow related to that occurrence. According to

Chapter One selects works of art from a wide variety of cultures and times. What might you not notice about Fig. 1-8, if you did not know that the Mugal ruler Akbar believed that “a synthesis of the world’s faiths would surpass the teachings of any of them.”

This work is a 33-foot-long, 10-panel painting which features an assortment of cartoon -like Buddhist figures. This piece is incredibly detailed and holds a lot of information within its imagery. Arhats are considered to be Buddha’s devotees, so this work relates more to religious themes. The theme of multi-coloured acrylic carries on into this work with rainbow eyes, tongues and more. The title “100 Arhats” states exactly how many arhats are present in this piece – one hundred – believe me, I counted. The Arhats vary in size and type, some being more humanoid than others which appear to be more akin to animalistic creatures, the piece is also accompanied by figures that may not be arhats, and instead are dragon or feline-like creatures. Each figure, however, relates to one another in that all have somewhat gruesome facial expressions, frowning and wrinkled, some even with an array of

Descent of Amida and the Twenty-Five Bodhisattvas is a hanging scroll from the Kamakura period in 13th century demonstrating Amida Buddha and 25 bodhisattvas swiftly descending over the mountains into a village. The artist used real gold paint and small slivers of gold to create patterns to add radiance to the people descending from the mountain. That usage of gold in art work is known as Kirikane and it is one of the great achievements of early Japanese Buddhist. The gold really stands out from the rest of the landscape because it is all dark colors. The symbolic meaning of this hanging scroll is that Amida would come down from the heavens to the home of a dying person in hopes of having their soul escorted into paradise. I like this painting

The use of the oil paint falls from broad and gestural to refined and purposeful. Over all the painting style is semi-loose to retain essential information within the painting. The worm colors bring a comforting feel to the piece of thoughtful solitude and prayer. Although this painting depicts what life may have been to Indigenous people in the 19th century, the artist shows his lack of understanding of the culture. Respect is one of the core values to many planes people and respect goes further than the relationship between people but all things in life such as birds and stone and plants. They all have a sprit that is considered a relative. The problematic aspects of this painting are how sacred items are leisurely treated as objects. The three most noteworthy items are the cha’nupa, cansiga, and waph’a’ha. First, the cha’nupa should be propped up or held and not let be lying on the ground and put together. Second, the cansiga should also be propped up and face up at all times. Finally, an eagle feather or waph’a’ha should never touch the ground. These are things that can be damaging to our own understanding of history, Indigenous culture and spirituality. Although this is just one painting a person without the cultural knowledge could see this and believe that the treatment is tolerable since this is a paining from the past and insightful artist. This paining wile well

The group of objects chosen for this paper comes from the collection of the Saint Louis Art Museum. The title of both pieces is called Seated Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara (Guanyin). Both these pieces which are statues were sculpted in china. The earliest statue was made during the Tang dynasty. While, the later statue was made during the Northern Song dynasty. These statues were chosen because the same deity is depicted and were made in a similar geographic and cultural location. This allows for the comparison of the different styles between the 2 periods. The statue made during the Northern Song dynasty depicts the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara sitting in a pose called the relaxed pose or easy pose. This statue also depicts the Bodhisattva adorned in lavish silk garments while a jeweled crown sits atop his head. The statue is carved from wood and painted with gesso, pigments, and gilding. The statue made during the Tang Dynasty depicts the Bodhisattva sitting in the easy pose as well. It also depicts the Bodhisattva in flowing robes while wearing a string of jewels.

Art has been an outlet for people worldwide to express their views on political issues, to depict social revolutions, and to display picturesque landscapes. While there are many art museums across the nationwide, perhaps one of the most renowned museums in California is the San Diego Museum of Art, located in the heart of Balboa Park. Last weekend, I visited San Diego Museum of Art, in hopes of broadening my knowledge of artworks from around the world, particularly those of Asian influence, as my family has some Asian lineage. I found the collection, Brush and Ink: Chinese Paintings from San Diego Museum of Art Selected By Pan Gongkai, most informative in my search, as it displayed the traditional painting techniques from fifteenth century China to today (The San Diego Museum of Art, 2016).

This essay will compare two artists from different countries, one is a Russian artist called Wassily Kandinsky and the other one is Guan Zhong Wu, he comes from China which is my own country. The two artists lived in different cultural backgrounds during the same period, so they had significant similarities and differences. First, this essay will compare the similar artistic spirit between the two artists. Second, this essay will examine the different drawing tools that the two artists used for their paintings. Third, this essay will discussion the two artists using the similar “point and line to plane” (Kandinsky 1979:1) to paint different style pictures. Finally, this essay will analyses the influences of European and oriental culture on