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MONGOLIAN BUDDHIST ART: MASTERPIECES FROM THE MUSEUMS OF MONGOLIA. Volume I, Part 1 & 2: Thangkas, Embroideries, and Appliqués. Edited by Zara Fleming and J. Lkhagvademchig Shastri. (Serindia Publications, November 2011. ISBN 978-1-932476-37-8).

"Mongolian Buddhist Art: Masterpieces from the Museums of Mongolia presents for the first time 441 masterpieces of Mongolian Buddhist art from five major Mongolian museums: the Bogd Kahn Palace Museum, the Choijin Lama Temple Museum, the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts, the Erdene Zuu Museum and the Danzanravjaa Museum. Selected by the Centre for Cultural Heritage in conjunction with the curators of the participating museums, these pieces were chosen for their religious and historical importance, their aesthetic and technical quality, their uniquely Mongolian characteristics and their rarity."

"Volume 1: Thangkas, Appliqués and Embroideries is divided into eight chapters — encompassing within these three media the visual realms of the Buddhas and his disciples, mahasiddhas, Indian, Tibetan, and Mongolian scholars, previous reincarnations, yidams, dakinis, protectors and sacred architecture. Although constrained by the rules of Buddhist iconography and strongly influenced by Tibetan art, the Mongolians have succeeded in creating many works that are uniquely Mongolian, a highly expressive and vibrant tradition that can be seen in this volume. Dating from the late 17th to the 20th century, these examples provide rich materials for the present and future studies of Buddhist art and its heritage in Mongolia." (Serindia Publications).

The Black Hat Eccentric: Artistic Visions of the Tenth Karmapa.  Karl Debreczeny. July 23, 2012. Rubin Museum of Art.

"The Tenth Karmapa Choying Dorje (1604-1674) was not only leader of the Karma Kagyu School of Tibetan Buddhism but also famous as a great artistic innovator. One of the most original and eccentric figures in the history of Tibetan art, he combined different compositional and figural models as well as styles, even mixing genres to create a very personal visual idiom full of charm, wit, and humor. A sensitive and playful depiction of animals is especially distinctive, making his works both intimate and directly accessible. The life of this artist is well documented in Tibetan sources, which provide an alternative historical narrative of the tumultuous seventeenth century as well as a new perspective on Tibetan art history." (Publisher).

Additional images of artists at work have been added to the Art Depicted in Art Page.

'Art Depicted in Art' collects together all, or as many as found, of the paintings that depict 'art objects' in the composition of a painting. Sometimes the process of 'tangka' painting is highlighted in a narrative vignette, or a sculptural object arranged on a shrine, or sculpture in a small temple. This page is about two-dimensional and three dimensional art represented and depicted in paintings. Sometimes it is difficult to find the vignette, or visual scene, where the art object is depicted. Look carefully and the art within the art will be found, or read the description for each piece and the 'art within art' will be pointed out if not already found. (See the Art Depicted in Art Main Page).

Additional images of Sera Monastery have been uploaded courtesy of Uranchimeg Tsultem. The monastery was founded by Jamchen Choje Shakya Yeshe (1355–1435), a direct student of Je Tsongkapa, in 1419. Sera is counted as one of the largest monasteries of old Tibet along with Drepung, Ganden and Labrang Monasteries. For more information see the Sera Monastery Project on the Tibetan & Himalayan Library website.

Additional images of Samye Monastery have been uploaded courtesy of Uranchimeg Tsultem. Take note of the different mural styles and subjects. Some of the images are almost identical to murals found in the Potala Palace.

A new subject specific glossary has been added to the HAR website. The topic is Monastery, Residence & Retreat Terminology. This new addition is meant to assist with understanding painting topics such as the Labrang Monastery Cityscape and other site locations depicted in art. The glossary is a work in progress with more terms to be added and many more corresponding links to image examples.

Two more outstanding paintings at the Winter Palace Museum are focussed on the subjects of Vajrabhairava and Jetsun Dampa. The first painting is dominated by a a large mandala in the upper half of the composition and an image of the white multi-faced, multi-armed, Sitatpatra at the bottom center. The second painting has a depiction of Vajrabhairava with consort at the center of the composition with numerous large squares containing narrative vignettes in registers at the top, sides and bottom of the painting. The secret life story and spiritual experiences of Jetsun Damapa are depicted in both paintings. Extensive explanatory inscriptions can be found on the front and back of the paintings.

1. Vajrabhairava Mandala & Sitatapatra

2. Vajrabhairava & Retinue Deities

The Winter Palace Museum has some interesting objects and with paintings there are a couple that stand out and really command attention. One of those paintings is a life story composition of Milarepa. The entire life story is contained in the single composition. Everything about it is unusual from the artistic style to the selection of narratives depicted surrounding the central figure.

The full collection of paintings at the Winter Palace Museum can be difficult to see with only a few paintings out at any particular time. There are small miniature paintings, medium sized paintings, black ground, red ground and textiles. The most eye-catching painting for some visitors might be the floor to ceiling Maharakta Ganapati, framed with full brocade mounts, commissioned by the previous owner of the Winter Palace (Bogd Khan) at the turn of the century to help increase their fortunes and power.

The collection of sculpture at the Winter Palace Museum is worth seeing just on its own. It can be divided into two distinct subjects. The first subject is a magnificent set of Green Tara images, accompanied originally by Marichi and Ekajati, along with the Twenty-one Taras of the Atisha Tradition. The Marichi from the set is missing from this group and resides in the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. Approximately three of the twenty-one Tara images are missing with one recently appearing in the Sotheby's Auction House in New York in March 2011. The second group of sculpture is a miscellaneous assortment of buddhas, teachers, deities and a large portrait bronze of Zannabazar.

The Winter Palace Museum in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, holds some of the most interesting and idiosyncratic objects of Mongolian Buddhist history. Most of the museums in the capital city share a wealth of Zannabazar sculpture. The Winter Palace Museum also houses paintings and personal objects of the last Jetsun Dampa who ruled Mongolia.

Three new West Tibet photo galleries have been added to the site: Dungkar Caves, Piyang Caves and Tsaparang. The new photo archive is courtesy of Uranchimeg Tsultem.

See the West Tibet Main Page for a list of all cave, temple, village and fortress sites currently on HAR.

Images of the Karpo Lhakang (White Temple) of Tsaparang have been uploaded along with the Do Zhang Temple located some miles distant. These images accompany those of the Marpo Lhakang (Red Temple) which were highlighted on the Himalayan Art Resources Facebook page July 25th - last week.

A Vasudhara Masterworks Page has been added to Masterworks of Himalayan & Tibetan Art.

Shadbhuja Mahakala (Six Armed Great Black One) has been added to the Masterworks of Himalayan & Tibetan Art Page.

The Suryagupta Tradition of Tara is best known for the set of Twenty-one Taras. It is certainly one of the earliest of the systems of Twenty-one along with the Atisha and Sadhana-samucchaya sets, followed later by the Tibetan systems of the Longchen Nyingtig and Choggyur Lingpa.

The unique iconographic feature of the Suryagupta twenty-one Taras are their individual appearances, expressions, number of faces, arms, and colour. The Twenty-one are generally practiced in the style of Kriya Tantra while the Seventeen Deity Tara is an Anuttarayoga practice with full explanations of Generation and Completion Stage Yogas.

Ganden Monastery (Ganden Namgyal Ling, dga' ldan rnam rgyal gling) was founded by Je Tsongkapa in 1409 and is the seat of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism. The supreme abbot of the monastery is called the Ganden Tripa (throne holder) and he is also the head of the Gelug Tradition. The most precious object in the temple is the stupa containing the body of Tsongkapa, created in 1419. Ganden, along with Sera and Drepung, are the three most important Gelug monasteries and are commonly considered the largest in all of Tibet.

Namkha Gyan of Trehor was a very famous artist of East Tibet in the late 17th and 18th centuries. One of his chief patrons was the 3rd Panchen Lama who commissioned paintings which were then given as gifts to the Chinese Emperor of the time. These paintings can still be seen in the Palace Museum in Beijing. Other examples of Namkha Gyan's work can be found in Chengdu, as well as throughout the Kangdze region of East Tibet.

This publication is of significant importance as the first modern publication in any language to be devoted to the works of an individual Tibetan historical artist. The text of the publication is in Tibetan, Chinese and English.

Langkajie Tangka: The Legacy of Seventeenth Century Tangka Painting Master. Author: Yangtar Lhamo. January 2012. ISBN 978-7-5410-4806-7.

Thanglha Tsewang (1902-1989), an artist and teacher. This publication is one of the first, possibly 'the' first, to highlight the life and works of a 20th century individual Tibetan artist - shattering the common Western notion that Tibetan artists are unknown and egoless.

Thanglha Tsewang first learned how to draw at age 10 from his uncle and was very much encouraged in his studies by the famous Katog Situ. Later, he became a monk and was very closely associated with Palpung Monastery in Eastern Tibet. Over the course of his life he created a large body of works, primarily paintings and in the style of Eastern Tibet - many of which are reproduced in the publication.

Many of these paintings are also represented on the Himalayan Art Resources website.

Collection of Tanglazewang. Authors: Konchog Tenzin, Yontan Tsering, Dodril. August 2006. ISBN 7-5409-3235-X/J-121.

A new publication highlighting a set of eleven paintings depicting the life story of Gesar has been published by the Sichuan Museum of Chengdu, China. The large format coffee table style art book has full page images of the eleven paintings along with inummerable details of each. The text is primarily in Tibetan and Chinese language with three English language articles by prominant Western scholars. The well known R.A. Stein article in French on the Gesar painting set has been translated into English and Chinese. Dr. Amy Heller discusses the historical and art historical context and HAR Director and Chief Curator Jeff Watt contributed an article on the art and iconography of Gesar.   

From the Treasury of Tibetan Pictorial Art: Painted Scrolls of the Life of Gesar.  Sichuan Museum. Editor, Zhang Changhong. June 2012. ISBN 978-7-101-08513-6.