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The Ancient Art of Enlightenment
Ann E. Berman
08/02/2004
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 | | A GRAY schist figure of Buddha (Gandhara, 2nd/3rd century), with an
estimated value of $120,000 to $180,000, sold for $175,500 in March. |
Like most of the art
produced during the ancient and medieval periods, Indian, Southeast Asian and
Himalayan sculpture celebrates man’s relationship with the divine. Temples and
monasteries were part of daily life, and artists lavished their talents on
sculptural scenes from the life of the Buddha or of colorful Hindu deities.
Bronzes adorned shrines and were part of most processions. Although the subject
matter is sensuous, even erotic, these works do not depict this worldly life,
but the divine spirit that underlies life itself. Bodies are idealized: rounded
and fluid, filled with the sacred breath of life. Faces radiate calm and wisdom.
Fresh styles continued to emerge for 1,500 years, but by 1600, Islam, a religion
that outlaws human images, had come to India, and the artistic focus of the
region turned toward the decorative arts and designs from nature.
During the
colonial period that followed, Asian temple sculpture began to find its way into
Western hands. But long after Chinese and Japanese porcelain and lacquer work
adorned every British country house, most Westerners viewed these works of the
“other” Asia as oddities—exotic souvenirs from a heathen world. It took
sharp-eyed 20th-century connoisseurs such as John D. Rockefeller and Norton
Simon to recognize them as fine art—along with the infatuation of the 1960s and
1970s with Asian travel and personal swamis—to bring a significant number of
collectors into the fold.
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