Tangka art: treasure of Tibet

Secondly, does the concept of artistic intent apply to thangkas? Only rarely do thangkas express the personal vision or creativity of the painter, and for that reason thangka painters have generally remained anonymous as have the tailors who made their mountings. There is a vast amount of iconographic information provided in thangkas, some of it literally spelled out. If being watched closely, many thangkas spell identification of figures and scenes in formal and delicately rendered scripts.

Thangkas were important articles of the tent culture of nomadic monastic groups in medieval Tibet. Nomadism was good for the people but intensely harmful for the thangkas. Rolling and unrolling was, and still is, unavoidably damaging for thangkas.

Mountings

Thangkas are not only paintings. Their textile mountings are very important. When dealing with the mountings, a new set of questions arises. Did the artist of the painting have any control over the style and proportions of the mountings which surround the painting? Is the silk brocade mounting currently part of this thangka in fact the original mounting for this picture panel, or could it be the third or fourth replacement? The answer to the latter question can often be found on the edges of the support where several rows of stitch holes can indicate that the mounting has been changed.

Does the mounting obscure significant sections of the painting? Tailors have been known to sew mountings with a window so small that it covers important iconographic and aesthetically relevant sections of the painting composition. The form of the mounting therefore may alter the artist's intent by obscuring details significant to the iconography and aesthetics of the painting.

Popularity & Value

For many years, Tangkas were not known to the Western world. But with the modernization of Tibet, the paintings have been turning up with increased frequency in local and international art collection markets.

At a sale of Christie's Auction House in New York in 1994, a large embroidered Tangka painted at the time of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was sold for $1 million. In 2002, the same Tangka was sold again at Christie's Hong Kong for around $3.6 million, making it a record for any auctioned Tangka. However, nowadays it is rare to find Tangkas painted before the Ming Dynasty.

Apart from ancient classic works, created in Tang (618-907) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, modern Tangka paintings have also been favored by enthusiasts and collectors both domestically and overseas. Some works of contemporary artists have great value for collectors because of the painters' consummate skill and innovation of blending modern painting styles or approaches with traditional characteristics.

With the development of a new generation of Tangka artists, the content of Tangka artworks has been enriched. Bodhisattvas are no longer the only theme. In recent Tangka paintings, there are various images of contemporary life, such as trains traveling through Tibet, coca-cola tins and even lamas holding telescopes.