36 New York Exhibitions


ART OF THE MOUNTAIN Through the Chinese Photographer’s Lens


UNKNOWN TIBET The Tucci Expeditions and Buddhist Painting


Flower Blooming on a Magic Brush Tip (2001) by Zhang Jiaxuan, detail, inkjet print, 11 x 21 inches


Tis exhibition blurs the difference between photography and the beauty of Nature through the lenses of over 20 contemporary photographers to not just see what they saw, but also to feel what they felt by being in the presence of such awe. Te approximately 60 images created by them serve as the means for us to perceive the spiritual quality of mountains,


explaining clearly why early man considered them to be the dwelling places of spirits and therefore sacred. In Chinese legend, mountains are the pillars that hold up the sky. Mountains were seen as places that nurture life. Teir veneration took the form of rituals, retreat from social society, and aesthetic appreciation with a defining role in Chinese art and


culture. Photographers include Hou Heliang, Kang Songbai and Kang Liang, Li Daguang, Lin Maozhao, Li Xueliang, Lu Hao, Zhang Anlu, Xiao Chao, Yan Shi, Wang Jing, Zhang Jiaxuan, Zhang Huajie, and Zheng Congli. • Art of the Mountain, until 2 December, at China Institute, New York, chinainstitute.org


Asia Society’s exhibition features an extraordinary group of works from the Museum of Civilisation-Museum of Oriental Art ‘Giuseppe Tucci’ in Rome, including major paintings collected by the scholar/explorer during his expeditions to Tibet. Te works are presented together with photography taken during eight major expeditions led by Tucci between 1926 and 1948 and presents the story of two of these journeys. Te first is the story of Tucci’s travels in a land that was traditionally forbidden to foreigners. Troughout the exhibition, enlargements of archival expedition photography are featured, as well as documentary footage of Tibet’s people, landscapes, and monuments at the time of Tucci’s visits, to provide additional context for the paintings. Te second journey is


spiritual and explores the different paths to Buddhist awakening, or enlightenment. Tibetans recognise two paths to enlightenment: ‘Te Path of the Sutra,’ and ‘Te Path of the Tantra’ (the esoteric path). Each path is based on different sacred texts. Te paintings have only recently been restored as a group and


CROWNS OF THE VAJRA MASTERS Ritual Art of Nepal


Tis is a remarkable exhibition, not just because of the great beauty and power of presence exuded by many of the fine and extremely high quality works of art on view, but because it is very much a distilled, single-subject show, brought to life through 29 ritual objects of Buddhist worship in Mediaeval India and Nepal. Because of rare subject of this exhibition, visitors, possibly for the first time, will be given their first real opportunity to learn and understand this rare and esoteric realm of Northern Buddhism. Te show, because of the numbers of works of varying types, reveals details of ceremonial use, evolution of styles and the iconography in use in mediaeval India and Nepal. Because the majority of the 29 works of art predate 1600, with many being 11th to 14th century, visitors will be engulfed by a highly distilled selection of extremely important – and early - works of art Indian and Nepalese art. Buddhism is now a minor


religion in India, its birthplace. Tis is due to the invasion and conquest of northern India by Persian Muslims. Teir conquest foretold the subsequent massacre of Buddhists at their hands in 1191, ostensibly the death knell for Buddhism in the


ASIAN ART MARCH 2018


northeast corner of India, even at Bodh Gaya in Bihar, the sacred site where it is believed that Gautama Siddhartha achieved Enlightenment under a bodhi tree. A Vajra, highly important and vital component in this exhibition is a celestial or ‘diamond’ lightning bolt with cosmic power of Enlightenment. It is the one implement identifying a Vajra Master, or Vajracarya, who is a spiritually enlightened being empowered to convey Vajrayana teachings and practices. Essentially, the teachings are esoteric (hidden or secret) rather than exoteric (known) and a student is selected by a Vajracarya only when the student is ‘ready’ to receive knowledge and lessons which most people are unable to comprehend. What is remarkable about this exhibition is that it contains five Vajracarya priest’s crowns. Te fact is that a single example of this style of headpiece of a Vajracarya priest is rarely or ever seen, this highly expansive, subject-specific exhibition has five dating from the 13th to early 17th century. Closely resembling ancient Central Asian rulers’ conical headpieces in variant styles with ornamentation of conspicuous design, it is the same basic shape here. Tere


Vajracharya Priest’s Crown Nepal, circa 14th century, repoussé gilt copper with semiprecious stones, 29.2 × 19.7 × 22.2 cm, lent by Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Fund


Eugenio Ghersi, Giuseppe Tucci, and members of the expedition in an unidentified location, Western Tibet. Courtesy of Istituto Italiano per l’Africa e l’Oriente (Is.I.A.O.) in l.c.a. and Ministero Degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale


this exhibition provides the first opportunity for scholars and the general public to see these historically important works in the US. Te exhibition sections are organised to take viewers on a trip along the Path of the Buddhist Sutra via thangkas and manuscripts that relate to the Buddha, the Buddhist Law, monks, nuns, and the


laity, and the Path of the Buddhist Tantras via images of Lamas, Protectors of Personal Practice, and Protectors of the Buddhist Law. Te final section explores how Bon and Buddhism have influenced each other in Tibet. • Unknown Tibet, until 20 May at Asia Society, New York, asiasociety.org


has been a continuity of design throughout the centuries of theological orthodoxy inherent in these crowns. Although there are slight variations among these five, the most important feature is half of a vajra at the top of each crown. Made of gilt copper alloy and profusely pierced and chased with multiple designs, these crowns are splendid creations that often are decorated with pearls, gold and semiprecious stones, turquoise in particular. It must have been a stunning sight to see these crowns shimmering from lamp light in the darkened rooms of a


temple setting. Really the only known non-theological example of this type of crown appears to be the shorter crown of the god-kings of Nepal.


In the exhibition, these five


crowns, evoking the Five Transcendent Buddhas are arranged as a round cosmic field (mandala) around which will be displayed thangka and mandala, almost all of the same early date as the crowns themselves – the 11th to 15th century. Tere are three mandala in the exhibition: the Sun God Surya, Chakrasamvara and the Sun God Surya with


Vajracharya Priest’s Crown Nepalese, circa 13th century, copper, gold, crystal, and turquoise, 35.6 x 21.6 x 22.9 cm, Te Metropolitan Museum of Art, gift of Bashford Dean, 1906


Chakrasamvara, being circa 1100, and the others being 15th century. Te slightly larger number of thangka are mainly 14th/16th century, and like the mandala, are brilliant examples, in both quality and condition.


Te copper alloy images, dated from the 9th through 12th centuries, are few in number, but are superb examples of how well these Nepalese and Kashmiri


artisans were able to infuse a feeling of strong yet stilled energy.


Te intimate size and


cosmically arranged placements in this exhibition are ideal for invoking the closed quarters in which Vajrayana was taught – both then and now. Martin Barnes Lorber


• Crowns of the Vajra Masters, until 16 December, at Te Metropolitan Museum, New York, metmuseum.org


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