Thangkas

This project investigates the materials and techniques used by Tibetan artists. Six Tibetan thangkas were analyzed by infrared reflectography, energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy, and high-performance liquid chromatography. The analysis has suggested that three thangkas of the eighteenth-nineteenth century have a traditional palette, which includes azurite, vermilion, orpiment, bronchantite, red lead, dolomite, magnesite, organic red with calcite or magnesite substrate, and alumino-silicate clay minerals. Another late nineteenth or early twentieth century thangka shows the use of Western pigments such as emerald green, ultramarine, calcite, gypsum, chrome yellow, gold color from brass powder, and red and yellow dyes with barium sulfate substrates. Two twentieth century thangkas made for the tourist trade revealed a twentieth century palette such as titanium dioxide, phthalocyanine blue, phthalocyanine green, and other pigments such as red lead, chrome yellow, barium sulfate, and gypsum.

The thangka studied bellow is a Buddhist religious worship painting. It is part of a multi-paintings’ set brought back from Zanzkar (Tibetan cultural area in the Northwest of India), by a Parisian private collector. Its making
process and use have consequences on the artwork’s behaviour and reactivity: It is a non-varnished , distemper technique, using natural materials. Added to that, its routine use in a regular and frequent ritual process, contributed in the past, to weaken an already very sensitive work. It is in this context that we chose to use an ultrasonic nebulizer to strengthen the pulverulent on-surface pigments. Facing an increasing demand of information about its optimum using mode, its technical features, various application ways and its direct consequences on the pictorial coats, we chose to examine in greater details, especially its application modes. This research aimed at measuring the capacity of the ultrasonic nebulizer in keeping the original optical quality of surface (initial tint) in an optimal way, by varying its modes of application. In order to measure the color change induced by the treatment, we compared test sample before and after nebulization with the same final dry weigh of adhesive, but with various percentage coats.

ABSTRACT: This project investigates the materials and techniques used by Tibetan artists. Six Tibetan thangkas were analyzed by infrared reflectography, energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence, Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy, and high-performance liquid chroma-tography. The analysis has suggested that three thangkas of the eighteenth - nineteenth century have a traditional palette, which includes azurite, vermilion, orpiment, bronchantite, red lead, dolomite, magnesite, organic red with calcite or magnesite substrate, and alumino-silicate clay minerals. Another late nineteenth or early twentieth century thangka shows the use of Western pigments such as emerald green, ultramarine, calcite, gypsum, chrome yellow, gold color from brass powder, and red and yellow dyes with barium sulfate substrates. Two twentieth century thangkas made for the tourist trade revealed a twentieth century palette such as titanium dioxide, phthalocyanine blue, phthalocyanine green, and other pigments such as red lead, chrome yellow, barium sulfate, and gypsum.

Dalla fine dell’Ottocento, le ricerche e gli studi dedicati alla possibile influenza della cultura dell’India su Dante Alighieri e la sua opera, sono state sporadiche e occasionali. Per il passato, fra pochi altri si distinguono i contributi degli indologi Angelo De Gubernatis e di Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy. Mentre molto ci sarebbe ancora fare, per quanto riguarda la ricerca storico artistica, sulle probabili fonti iconografiche centro asiatiche dell'immaginario di Dante, e specialmente di quello infernale, fra tutte le questioni ancora aperte, resta centrale quella della possibile, specifica influenza indiana sulla sua 'invenzione' del Purgatorio come montagna sacra.

The following study intends to present the basic, historical and procedural principles of the traditional Tibetan painting, thangka. This objective is justified by the lack of studies in Portuguese on the subject. Although it is noticeable nowadays an expansion of Asian studies in Brazil, in confluence with a growing approach and interest in Eastern culture in contemporary society; this dissertation, by field research, literature and history, wishes to investigate, explain and expose the deep and specific scope of the symbolic, sacred and traditional in Tibetan painting. Believing that the recognition of the arts and non eurocentric aesthetic theories corroborate the cognition and production of the invaluable human cultural diversity.

This paper will look at Kant's views of the aesthetic experience, in relationship to Buddhist philosophical and political discussions of art and social organization. The primary focus in Kantian literature explores the relationship between free and dependent beauty, as well as Kant's paradox of taste. The central argument of the Kantian portion is going to navigate the paradox of taste via Graham Priest's epistemic and conceptual distinction pertaining to the limits of thought. Secondly, I shall contextualize the debate with similar argumentation found in medieval Tibetan literature, by thinkers such as Tsongkhapa and Drakpa Gyaltsen. Lastly, I shall look at the political and artistic state of affairs in Yuan and Ming Dynasties and assert the applicability of both Kantian and Tibetan discussions of effibility in the context of Tibetan poetry and Thangkas.

ABSTRACT: Thangkas are a sacred art form still in active use. All conservation efforts must be wide-awake to both the evolving form, and the continuous sacred nature of thangkas. This paper uses examples from decades of work with thangkas in the Himalayan region and in Western museums and private collections. 2008

The following article refers to the notes and studies of four weeks of classes in Karma Sichoe’s studio in Dharamsala, India, during the months of March and April 2013. There, concepts such as history, technique and themes of thangka (Tibetan traditional painting) were discussed, explained and practiced. Themes that were seen superficially regarded the short time, but already displayed the traditional and millennial strength of Tibetan painting. By his personal history and daily routine as a traditional and contemporary painter, Karma addressed basic issues: measurement and canon of the Buddha's head, composition of landscapes, design, composition and colors of the elements, fire, air (clouds), water (waterfalls, rivers and lakes), earth (mountains, rocks, abyss, trees, flowers) and craft principles, demonstrating the craft in the arts, the making of brushes, mineral pigments and preparation of canvas. In addition to traditional studies, as in a two-way road, there was the participation of Karma in Coletivo RAGA's project (to which I belong, doing paintings and murals) in a mural in Dharamsala, about the difficult political situation and the protests in the Tibetan region.

The following article, written by Ann Shaftel, gives us a precious insight in the development of a treatment methodology for Thangka paintings, developed during a career lifespan of over forty years. The author, prompted by a request from an emerging conservator, recalls her choices and explains them in the context of a different time, when methodology for such items was still in its infancy.

As complicated, composite objects, the complete thangka form presents a complex challenge in the spectrum of fakes, forgeries and fabrications. Thangkas are a sacred art form still in active use. Traditional thangkas are created from an unbroken chain of instruction, descending from teacher to student in the conservative cultural and religious traditions of this Himalayan Buddhist art form. Because thangkas are composite objects, the various components of a thangka may or may not be original to each other, as parts are replaced and restored over the years. For example, the textile mountings may have been changed several times in the object's history. Confusing the issue further, new thangkas using traditional iconography but non-traditional materials or nontraditional iconography with traditional materials and methods of manufacture have appeared in the marketplace. In some cases, these thangkas have been made as intentional fakes with the deliberate purpose of deception and profit for the maker and seller. In other cases, these unconventional thangkas are used in the traditional manner. This paper seeks to define the thangka in the context of an evolving cultural tradition

Thangkas are a sacred art form still in active use. All conservation efforts must be wide-awake to both the evolving form, and the continuous sacred nature of thangkas. This paper uses examples from decades of work with thangkas in the Himalayan region and in Western museums and private collections.

Since 1970 Ann Shaftel has researched, documented, and worked on thangka preservation, both the melong (central iconographic) and the textile surrounds. 1970 interviews include Gelek Rinpoche at Delhi Tibet House, and Khamtrul Rinpoche, later interviews include HH Karmapa 16 and 17, Jamgon Kongtrul 3 and 4, Thrangu Rinpoche, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and other teachers, scholars and artists. Article includes review of art conservation techniques as applied to traditional thangka.

(A more recent version corrected is available on demand) This dissertation concludes a five-year conservator-restorer Master Degree program at Ecole de Condé in Paris. It is dedicated to the study and the restoration of a Tibetan thangka painting from a French private collection.
The Art history study, gave me the opportunity to discuss the journey of the thangka from the creation to the acquisition by its owner in the sixties, in Zanskar Valley (Jammu and Kashmir). The main figure has been identified as of the eight medicine Buddha. The artefact could approximatively belong to the western-Tibet tradition, from the 19th century, as a great majority of the artworks from European private collections. The artefact could originally take place into a set of eight other paintings as I demonstrate it in the history study.

The technologic study allowed me to identify the constitutive materials of the fabric mounting, as well as the multiple layers composing the painting. The various elements of the pictorial coat were identified by the use of X-ray fluorescence. It confirmed the use of natural pigments, mineral primer and natural fibres. The acknowledgment of the alterations allowed me to provide a condition report which aimed at explaining and finding the adapted conservation treatment by giving an accurate diagnosis.

The technical and scientific study is composed of two parts and answers to issues as for the conservation choices. The first objective was to give a simple methodology to calculate the real efficiency of an ultrasonic nebulizer. By weighing the dry adhesive amount nebulized on a blotter paper, compared to the dry weigh inside the initial solution, I noticed an important decrease of adhesive. The second study is dedicated to the optical changes induced by the application of an adhesive with nebulizer on non-varnished coats. The interest was to compare two different ways of application with the same final dry adhesive weigh on the surface. The statement is that it creates different appreciations of colors on the L*a*b* color system.

The restoration problematic was, when possible, to emphasize the use of natural products, in a way to respect the nature as well as the cultural and religious significance of the thangka. The fabric mounting and the painting were separated to be treated individually. The textile has been dry-cleaned and consolidated with a synthetic lining to favor the treatment reversibility.
The painting support was flattened by the use of humidification under an enclosed facility. The stratigraphic complex was consolidated with an adhesive close to the one composing the thangka, thanks to an ultrasonic nebulizer on an enclosed vacuum pressure table. The most efficient cleaning way to clear the pictorial coat from encrusted dust and grime was the use of a non-abrasive dry eraser. Losses of coating were filled with natural mastic. The retouching was led with watercolor on the primer filler in an illusionist way to fill the slightly damaged areas and with neutral shades on quite extended altered areas. The painting and the fabric were sewed back together and set in a conservation and exhibition tailor-made box, to appreciate an imitation of the traditional hanging.

The following paper is a report of field research that is part of the master's schedule thesis of Thangka The Sacred Tibetan Painting: Tradition, History and Method. It presents the training and crafts learned and experienced over a period of sixty days (eight weeks) of experience with traditional painter and contemporary artist Karma Sichoe in his studio in Dharamsala, India between March and April 2015

विगत कई वर्षों से , संरक्षण मानवीय  हाथों से परिष्कृत की जाने वाली विधा विश्लेषणात्मक उपकरणों के बढ़ते उपयोग और डिजिटल टूलबॉक्स के नियमित उपयोग के साथ बदल गयी  है।  एक पेंटिंग को साफ किया जा रहा है और, कुछ मामलों में, फिर से चित्रित किया गया है के "पहले" और "बाद" के नाटकीय प्रदर्शन,  उनके अब आदर्श लक्ष्य और उद्देश्य पर पुनर्विचार किया जा रहा है। सांस्कृतिक और आध्यात्मिक रूप से संवेदनशील कला रूपों के लिए अब हमारे मन में अधिक सम्मान है जो उपयोग की ऐतिहासिक निरंतरता का प्रमाण देते हैं।

... of Eastern style paint-ings appears as the loss of one or several of the finely applied paint layers; while the damage to Central style paintings usually appears as deep cracking through the ... The dark background of the painting relates to the iconography of the subject matter. ...

A trip to discover the hidden secrest of the main Italian museums, including the National Museum of Oriental Art founded by Giuseppe Tucci and holding his huge art and artifacts collections from India, Nepal, Afghanistan, the Swat Valley, Japan.

Conference on Protection of Cultural Property in Asia – Interpol
The loss of art and antiquities through destruction, theft, looting, and illegal export and sale has long been associated with dramatic and catastrophic changes in societies such as war, civil unrest, and natural or man-made disasters. However, even relatively peaceful and progressive changes such as the opening of countries for increased travel and tourism or the development of free markets and economies also may stimulate the illegal trade in cultural and religious heritage items.
For traditional Buddhist monasteries and nunneries where valuable religious objects and relics are readily available to the religious community for daily contemplation and worship, there is a special challenge in protecting objects from damage and theft without restricting access.
By
Shaftel, Koestler, DePriest and Beaubien

Art exhibition review

Recensione della mostra "Tibet, centro del cielo e cuore del mondo",
Torino, Museo di Etnologia e Antropologia (dal 9 febbraio al 25 marzo 2005).
Pubblicata sulla rivista online "Exibart" il 15 marzo 2005.

Disponibile sul sito della rivista "Exibart":

https://www.exibart.com/torino/fino-al-25-iii-2005-tibet-centro-del-cielo-e-cuore-del-mondo-torino-museo-di-etnologia-e-antropologia/

La trasmissione "Italia: Viaggio nella bellezza" del 10 settembre 2018 tratta dei tesori museali nascosti a Milano e a Roma. Fra questi, il Museo Nazionale di Arte Orientale che Tucci ha fondato nel 1957. Enrica Garzilli parla di Giuseppe Tucci.