TWO THANGKAS DEPICTING ARHAT ABHEDA AND DHRITARASHTRA

TIBET, 16TH CENTURY

TIBET, 16TH CENTURY
Distemper on cloth; both rectos with Tibetan inscriptions in gold in the bottom red borders identifying the subject of each painting; both versos have stupas drawn in ink and Tibetan inscriptions: an inscription at the top notes their respective placements within a painted set, another inscription at the bottom identifies the subject of each painting.
Himalayan Art Resources item no.4487
Thangka of Arhat Abheda: 18 1/2 x 10 3/4 in. (47 x 27.3 cm) with red borders;
Thangka of Dhritarashtra: 18 1/4 x 10 5/8 in. (46.4 x 27 cm) with red borders

西藏 十六世紀 阿秘特尊者唐卡及東方持國天王唐卡

In the first painting, Arhat Abheda known for his modesty and compassion, meditates within his cave retreat atop the Snow Mountains while a monkey and stag make offerings. The imaginative composition seemingly enthrones the arhat within a psychedelic rock cocoon. The artist also skillfully conveys Abheda's old age with ultra-thin brushstrokes that depict his beard, brows, and wrinkles. The second painting represents Dhritarashtra, the guardian king of the eastern direction. As the leader of the heavenly musicians (gandharva), he is often depicted playing a stringed instrument, such as a vina or pipa. Here, Dhritarashtra wears a helmet adorned with a red feathered plume and an elaborate armor covered in richly patterned silks, following the Chinese style. These two finely executed paintings belong to a set of twenty-three thangkas depicting Buddha Shakyamuni, the sixteen arhats, their two attendants (Dharmatala and Hvashang), and the four guardian kings (Vaishravana, Virupaksha, Dritarashtra and Virudhaka).

Driven by the cultural exchange between Tibet and Mongol-ruled China, Chinese-style landscapes started to appear in Tibetan paintings as early as the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). A 14th-century thangka of Arhat Kanakavatsa, found in a ruined monastery in Shigatse and currently preserved in the British Museum, exhibits tremendous Chinese influence in both landscape and figurative elements (1955,0416,0.29). The present two paintings largely follow the same format as the British Museum painting – each featuring a prominent central figure within a mountainous landscape – but deviate from Chinese prototypes by developing a more idealized, unique Tibetan style. The rocks, for example, are highly stylized and painted in green, brown, and blue hues, with jagged golden outlines.

A painting of Arhat Rahula, in the Rubin Museum of Art, New York (C2003.11.3, HAR65210), is executed in the same style, identical in size, and has similar stupa drawings consecrating the verso. It almost certainly comes from the same dispersed set as the present lot.

Provenance:
Florida Private Collection, acquired in Nepal in 1965
Sotheby's, New York, 24 March 2018, lot 1648