Lot 111
111
A PAINTING OF GUHYASAMAJA
A PAINTING OF GUHYASAMAJA

TIBET, 19TH CENTURY

Details
A PAINTING OF GUHYASAMAJA
TIBET, 19TH CENTURY
The blue deity seated at center on a lotus throne, in embrace with Sparshavajra and backed by a halo and aureole, clockwise from upper left from Guhyasamaja is Atisha, Avalokiteshvara, Vajradhara, Nagarjuna, with Bengtse at bottom right corner, Vaisravana and Mahakala, all set within a verdant landscape and cloud-filled skies
28 ¾ x 19 ½ in. (73 x 49.5 cm.)
Provenance
The Van Der Wee Collection, Belgium, acquired in Brussels, 23 June 1966
Literature
L. and P. Van der Wee, A Tale of Thangkas: Living with a Collection, 1995, pp.62, 65, fig.25
Himalayan Art Resources (himalayanart.org), item no.100619
Exhibited
De Taal van de Thangka, Ethnographic Museum, Antwerp, 1995

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Lot Essay

Guhyasamaja is a Buddhist meditational deity that originates from the Guhyasamaja root text, created in the 4th-5th century and ascribed to the sage Asanga. He was greatly favored by the Gelugpa school, founded by Tsongkhapa who received the Guhyasamaja teachings as part of his formation. Three forms of the deity exist, including Akshobhyavajra, Manjuvajra, and Lokeshvara. The present example is Akshobhyavajra his blue form. Compare the present work with a similarly dated painting of Guhyasamaja in the Rubin Museum of Art (RMA #F1997.26.3).

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