Subject: Acquiring Traditional Style Art (Painting)

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Three Reasons for Acquiring Art:
- Pilgrim/Tourist
- Practitioner
- Collector

Video: Tibetan tourist thangkas in the Kathmandu Valley (Article Review)

A pilgrim or a tourist will want to acquire a memento or souvenir from a place visited such as a temple, shrine, monastery or holy place. In almost all situations the objects are newly manufactured. The object is chosen from what is available and what is preferred based on personal taste and interest. Pilgrims usually by Temple Shop Art of the lowest quality that is readily obtainable. Art of this kind can very often be iconographically incorrect or simply invented by the local artist. This is extremely common in Kathmandu, Nepal.

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Please see the article Tibetan tourist thangkas in the Kathmandu Valley by Yael Bentor, December 1993. From the Annals of Tourism Research 20(1):107-137.

Outline:
- Thangkas Made for Internal Use
- The Intermediate Audience
- The External Audience: Tourist Thangkas
- The Painters
- The Thangkas Described
- Commercialization of Tibetan Thangkas
- Conclusions

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Practitioners acquire objects generally based on desire or necessity in relation to accustomed practices and rituals. They can also be objects that have a general and generic meaning. An object can be new or old. There are four basic criteria that an object should possess. It should be relevant, authentic, accurate and of some quality. Objects are generally chosen with a higher level of discernment. Paintings are often commissioned with some involvement by the practitioner with the choice of figures in a complex composition.

Collectors are of several types but principally institutional, meaning related to a museum or academic organization, or private. The private collectors can also refer to art dealers and galleries along with private individuals that collect art, and or, private museums. Collectors are interested in connoisseurship, quality, rarity and value. Objects are primarily acquired through reputable art dealers or international auctions houses.

Art objects have three basic categories: old, new and fake. Old objects can have a wide range of appearances from aesthetically pleasing to very unpleasant to look at and of a poor quality. Old objects can also be copies of even early objects, attractive or unattractive. New objects can be of a fine quality or of a poor quality. Sometimes new objects are sold as old. Sometimes old objects are mistakenly sold as new, or of recent manufacture. Fake objects are generally created in such a way as to appear old and representative of an earlier style rather than modern day production. Objects themselves are neither legitimate or fake. It is the intention of the seller that frames an object fake or true to a specific narrative.

Jeff Watt 8-2021

(The images below are only a selection of examples from the links above).