Museum Open House; Japanese Temple Sculpture; 12; Museum Open House: Japanese Temple Sculptur

There are certain place names that one can. Drop into a conversation they're almost sure to derail somebodies train of thought. Harus roamed Venice. Among a group of people who have been to Japan. Quite a dramatic effect can be achieved by simply clearing your throat and saying Kyoto and. People will start bowing taking off their shoes. A few may drift out of touch for the rest of the evening. Most of the sculpture here came from the area of Kyoto or one of the reasons there's still such magic in their streets is the haunting presence of the past. Yesterday was the seventh century when this wooden sculpture was carved to be placed in a temple of a fallen religion that was overwhelmingly new to Japan. Buddhism in. The early years of the seventh century was a was a time of great investment for Buddhism and for Japan. And enlightened philosopher Prince name show took root. She became a devoted convert to the new faith. He saw it as a means of creating in Japan

a great society unifying the country for the first time. He founded. A constitution based on Confucianist principles. He built around many temples that were not only devotional but also centers of learning of artistic activity music and charity. The most extraordinary legacy left to us by Prince show toco in his time still stands today in a group of wooden buildings making up the temple compound. Of quarter Uji. The style of architecture close to that of Tang Dynasty China. One of the few places where it survives. Many of the sculptors of these new buddhist images were Chinese or Koreans who taught the native Craftsman the prescribed forms and poses as well as techniques. The stony

volcanic islands of Japan didn't lend itself to the great rock cut cave sculpture of the continent. Most of the work was done in clay runs over the medium which the Japanese artist seemed instinctively to make his own wood. The earliest pieces were like this cut from solid blocks of wood. Done in low relief technique that it keeps a linear flow maintains a primary sense of the cylinder from which it came. The subject here is a bodhisattva to use its Indian name. The kind of image which help to give Buddhism a great popular appeal. They represent saints and. These are particular saints who postpone their own go to hood to help everyone achieve enlightenment. The great tactical problem of avoiding conflict with a native Shinto religion was solved by adopting them by considering the Shinto gods as as other incarnations of the Buddha the Bodhisattvas.

There are some. Cultural lag between the continent and in Japan. The kind of poise simplicity here is as close to that of Chinese sculpture of fifty years or more before but by the end of the seventh century the full impact of the sumptuous style of the tongue Dynasty was echoed in Japan. The most spectacular monument. Are the brilliant flowering that followed an eighth century nor is the great temple of todai. It was a great national effort to rival China with this huge symbol of unity under the imperial rule. It housed and still does somewhat repaired the colossal MUITO over sixty feet high. The rare quality of not a sculpture is best seen in attendance figures. In the same temple such as this clay figure of bone 10. The Japanese version of The Hindu Lord of the world

Rockwell. Who had long ago been assimilated by Indian Buddhism and now was added to the bewildering complexity of Buddhist dating which confronted the simple Japanese worshipper. The style carries over into a more weighty form of this figure. Power from a single solid block of wood except for the arms. The subject one of the chief sought for that compassionate Lord of mercy you name I've struggled with all across Asia from India where he is known as a look at the China where he uses. And here in Japan the beloved condom. Costumes still echoing that of an Indian prince is right and it was a blessing. His left hand once held. A Lotus symbol of purity. The marks of the sculptor's tools reveal his readiness to accommodate

himself to the material to listen to its character. The features are an idealised abstraction seemingly withdrawn from from human passion. They still owe much to their Chinese ancestors. But all is not so serene in the Orient as we know from the morning paper and the sacred images of the Buddha were traditionally guarded by four Guardian Kings facing the four points of the compass. This is a result show ten guardian of the self and Lord of growth. That the moment gauged in arresting the growth of the unlucky little evil spirit. The ravages of time seem sometimes in a secret league with with a taste with modern tastes the original bright coloring of his costume worn away to reveal the ruffled figure of the sculptor as working of the wood twists and turns of the

grain strengthening the direction of the form. His right hand once held a spear in the face as a mask of righteous. Fury. The period roughly covering the 9th through the 12th century is often called the hay period which means peace and tranquility. This was the old name for Kyoto. The capital would now move there and it was a pathetically ironic title for an age marked by ferocious civil wars. It's often also called the Fujiwara period after the non imperial family who. Dominated the government as a civil dictator during this time from behind the scenes most of the time. The aggressive stance of the tent here was one with which the Buddhist monks could increasingly identify. They would often themselves descend in the thousands from the surrounding monasteries wearing

armor beneath their robes to make what was called a forceful appeal to the court for more power and more tax free land. The court rather unwisely appealed to a powerful military families like the type-A and the Minamoto to protect it and they protected it right out of business. But somehow during all this deputies are cut off from the tide of Chinese culture shown with a new brilliance that was. Unquestionably made in Japan. The most familiar aspect of Japanese art of this time we know is those richly decorative supposedly designed picture scrolls which evoke the poetry writing Firefly catching refinements of palace life the kind of thing we know from the tales of Benji. There's something of that lyrical insubstantial delicacy reflected also in some of the Buddhist sculpture such as this angel once

adorned the halo of a great statue of Buddha. Again the origin going back to the. Indian upside as this creature seems lighter and more playful more theory and closer to the linear or calligraphic flow of Chinese sculpture of the wood with a directness a clarity and emphasis on the silhouette that seems to belong. To JAPAN. I imagine the tinkle of her symbols made a refreshing sound in the. Awesome stillness. Of a Buddhist temple. The new aspect of the Buddha which was being warmly welcomed by the people

was that of the Buddha of infinite light and life. In contrast to the complicated rituals of the new esoteric sects of Buddhism which required the intermediary of. Learned priests. The way to the paradise of an idot was simply through faith. In the repetition of his name. And he stands in a later work of great subtlety showing how a really rigid code of expression and a strict academic formula can be injected infused with new depth and meaning by an artist who believes himself in his subject. The classic Serenity reminds us of of an ancient link. The Buddha image makes between east and west because it first came to life under the influence of art. When it reached as far as Pakistan

and here finally come to the shores of the Pacific in the midst of all the. Intrigue corruption and wars of the time and which is simple meaning seem to have been forgotten. An artist. Somehow renewed a kind of. Intimate report which is echoed in this hymn of the time. Pity too we cannot see the Buddha face to face. Though he is present always everywhere and yet perchance is in a vision. He will come to us in the coming morning hour. Where no man stirred. But this kind of simple accessibility and convincing really isn't in the treatment of the rope. These are undercurrents they're going to flow slowly before they reach this point in the fourteenth century in this common Korra period work. From the ninth to the twelfth century

the rich variety of images reflect more aristocratic taste for for abstract and form the complexity of the more scholarly sects of Buddhism. The Lord of mercy. Here appears looking rather aloof. Another con on this one cold. And eleven headed kind of goes above his own head he wears a crown with a standing figure of a made up Buddha surrounded by nine lesser gods. The very light incisions of the carving a vestige again of those continental ancestors cut from rock. Here the thin wood from which the artist had carved a flowing scarf. Hasn't survived the centuries in that face we see a willingness to let the form grow from the nature of the tools the materials. The shop cuts of the knife left giving its character. The taste for artistic presentation of a vast pantheon of gods

for magic formulas for elaborate ritual grew under the important sect of Buddhism called on true word. And we see for the first time in Japan the terrifying images of the ME YOUR This is Di a token of the Lord of majesty and power and god of death before whom evil stands in awe. And none so pass in power. There are five great you know and they're really rather lovable because their anger is turned against evil doers usually has six faces which exhibit the six miraculous powers and six arms which purify the sixth resorts of trans migration in this present state. Here he has three faces and part of two arms. But he isn't an adaptable multipurpose a deity in the back there are places left for adding more arms and legs. This is one of the earliest works in the joined wooden manner of carving which began to replace the

earlier style of carving from a single trunk or a block of wood somewhere along the line he lost his own pedestal. This one borrowed from somebody else. Here we go from one Neo. Which to another one which is the most. Popular and the most fierce looking of them all pseudo the immovable. He vowed that those who saw his body would give forth the Bodhisattva heart that those who heard his name would cut off evil and do good. But those who heard his teaching would acquire great wisdom and those who knew his heart would reach Buddhahood even while in the body he once held a rope for restraining evil. And there remains the hilt of a sword

which was to frighten it away. He's always surrounded by fire. Hair twisted and snail like curls that go back to 5th century Indian representation of the Buddha the figure gets its great vitality from a constant unexpected shifting. The flames off to one side. Then the curls parted in the middle symmetrically the brow symmetrical then the mouth. One thing up one saying down. The scarf on one shoulder. But the necklace neatly balanced the shoulders level. I was bent the hips shifted the flames now flickering on the other side. All with a kind of heavy sensuousness and a masterful deep carving technique. Doesn't These me know about manifestations of the soul of Buddha which like a

seed evolves out of itself. All the phenomena of the universe the Japanese skull and a saki is described how the Buddha is considered the great illuminator. The world is composed of the various groups of spiritual forces expressing themselves in the forms and behavior of material phenomena. Each of which according to Xing on teaching may be regarded as a day to day with his or her special attributes functions and intention. The number of these dating is like the particles of the universe can never be exhausted. They're grouped in a definite system of classes and finally united in the cosmic person or spirit of the great illuminators viewed in this way the beings and things of the world exist in order to realize their participation in the on the present activities of the Lord and to live think and express themselves as he does. We human beings furnished with body and mind are a concrete manifestation of the whole cosmic structure and our destiny to represent the cosmic life.

And personal life. But being shrouded in illusion and selfishness we have lost sight of the inner tie which unites us with a great Eliminator and of a real communion with other beings. It's there for the purpose of Buddha in his in numerable manifestations to enlighten us in regard to our original kinship with him. There is much there that's. Deeply familiar and some of that is distant and exotic. It doesn't take a very mystic turn of mind to be beguiled by some of the works here by the supreme craftsmanship and gently human countenance of this Buddha of the future. His face and figure are rather feminine. That marvelous flowing scarf makes a. Sinew Asli effective counterpoint the lines of his figure. It's fascinating to notice the bits

of invention with which an artist seeks to imbue an ancient theme with freshness. Individual delicacy with which each lotus petal is treated. Sophisticated looping of the folds of the skirt. Very naturalistic. Treatment of other material around the waist and that leaves with the Lotus stem from which sprouts. A little. Temple. And. The first recorded ponytail and Buddha start in the face of that. Buddha of the future. The present with. Aristocratic detachment. A Japanese child in this room would waste little time in finding his favorite divinity the jovially human Jizo. Folk sculptures of Jizo dot the countryside. Frequent festivals held in his honor. He's approachable he's merciful and everywhere he goes.

Lotus flowers spring up under his feet. Officially he's the savior of the dead in purgatory or hell. He once held a pearl in this hand which illumined the region of darkness. He was a popular God with the samurai. Of the title and the Minamoto phone may save you of the dead would naturally have some special interest. And in those days of high infant mortality. Women worshipped him for ease of childbirth and for saving the souls of children in purgatory. In Buddhist legend the souls of children are at the mercy of a she devil shows of God. No baba. Makes them pile up stones on the bank of a river telling them that if the towers are made high enough. They can reach paradise. The towers of course are never completed because the she devil and her assistant that will scatter the heaps of stones the faster the children compile them. And then along comes the drives the demons away comforts the children and hides them in his great sleeves.

Along the country roads. Today one. Can still find images of Jizo with little stones on his lap pieces of children's clothing hung around his neck each stone placed there with a prayer to lighten the labor and shorten the penance. So some young soul the bits of clothing. To keep it warm. All the passion so masterfully contained in that. Poor serenity of the Buddhas. Burst forth and Dynamic expression in the conceptions of the Guardian kings in the five great we'll hear eyes in your many arms still evidence of the power of Indian thought in Japanese Buddhism. His name means the great passion for all his complexity. His message simple and. Rather familiar passions left to themselves are sources of vice. When controlled sources of power toward definite aims three pairs of

arms. This once held a stick to strike the wicked. Here the symbol of purity the lotus. Beau. And in the other and arrows to attack human passions and to dispel forgetfulness. Then clutched to the breast the five point advantage symbolizing a pure heart ready to be enlightened. And lest a bell. To waken everyone to self-consciousness to lead them to reflection and lighten and Lion's Head supports another voucher or hold fund the boat in that plain like headdress. And the faces made more terrifying by the increased literal realism so that

that all seeing middle eyes suggested symbolically in Indian art is in a rather gruesomely explicit. Expression one of almost gleefully righteous anger. Here are the styles the centuries side by side their unity are reminder of the great vitality of Japanese sculpture from the 7th through the 14th centuries next to the 14th century Muro era and eleventh century Guardian Kings standing defiantly against transgressors holding a tiny shrine of the sign of Allegiance the Shalom the God of wealth and guardian of the north. When the capital was established in Kyoto a statue of him was set up on Mount he above the city so that he might protect the capital in the imperial residence from danger from an off. Uniform richly patterned. Additional ferocity. Two masks on each arm.

And a lion on his stomach. It was something like having a tiger in your tank. It's a composite of foreign influences which I have by the 11th century become naturalized. The sinew are shifting tropical century withness of the Indian images and stone. Seem far now from this more rigid and direct. And those linear Russian influence elegant works of the Chinese. Here changing to a pattern so what with the. Media impact. And the abstraction of features already beginning to the softened to suggest it a painful human encounter with thought. The tendency which would. Expand. Until the school of realistic portraiture in the

last great age of Japanese sculpture. In the late comic or a period. Of. Near the end of the 12th century the great warrior Yoritomo decided to base his military headquarters at the small fishing village of Kamakura not far from the present Tokyo 300 miles from the imperial capital of Kyoto became the actual If not the official capital of the country. The Emperor is still in his court if not much else the artistic center was still there. But what was once both exuberant and refined was now languid feet. In Buddhism the people tired of the secret complex intellectual practices and doctrines the spirit of the times led to a growing devotion to the simple faith

of Buddha. One monk even announced that the act of faith was too difficult that the repetition of M in his name was enough which in a sense requires a greater faith. And of course his end was just appearing and those in Buddhists did not encourage. Proliferation of Buddhist sculpture images. No one work embodies an entire age but the the magic of great art is that it often convinces us that it does. And in that state of. Inspired deception we have flashes of knowing. Another time and place that learning can correct but never replace. Though the realistic portraiture of hermit monks began in India and had been practiced in Japan since the not a period. It particularly appealed to the simpler tastes of the warrior class who now control the

patronage. This is a supreme example of the Japanese capacity for blending and steering creatively foreign and native elements. Such a man was a God of War in the ancient native religion of Shinto which was never really faced by the triumph of Buddhism. Buddhists adopted the Shinto gods as manifestations of their own. And in the eighth century this humble looking out human was was granted the magnificent title of state protecting miracle working supreme Lee powerful divinely in Daoud great free will acting king bodhisattva. Here in the 14th century we see an imaginary portrait as a meditating Buddhist monk very much in the style of Zen meditating. The very style of his carving is a blending that goes in at the distance of Greece India China emerging

here with of that stock directness the native Japanese sculpture since centuries before the coming of Buddhism.