Scroll Painting
Scroll painting is a distinctive form of visual art rooted primarily in the traditions of central and eastern Asia. Its two primary types are the vertical hanging scroll, commonly associated with the Himalayan regions (including Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan), and the horizontal hand scroll, which has historical significance in China, Japan, and Korea. In the Himalayan context, the hanging scroll, known as thangka, often serves spiritual purposes, featuring intricate imagery that supports meditation and rituals within Buddhist practices. In contrast, the horizontal scrolls from East Asia frequently depict landscapes or narrative scenes, showcasing a rich tradition of storytelling through art.
The history of scroll painting dates back to ancient times, with painted scrolls in India appearing as early as the second century BCE. The technique traveled through various cultures, evolving along the way; for instance, Japanese artists adapted Chinese styles to feature more daily life themes. Notably, contemporary interest in scroll painting persists, with traditional techniques being revived and modern themes explored by artists around the world. Today, both historic scroll paintings and new creations continue to captivate collectors and are frequently exhibited in museums, reflecting their enduring cultural significance and artistic value.
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Scroll Painting
Scroll painting is a style of visual art primarily practiced in central and eastern Asia. The two main types are the vertical hanging scroll commonly used in the Himalayas (Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan) and the horizontal hand scroll, which was traditionally made in China, Japan, and Korea. In the Himalayas, the hanging scroll is a composite piece of art called thangka. In general, it consists of a picture panel, painted or printed on canvas or silk and mounted on a paper backing. Decorative silk borders frame the completed image, and wooden rods at the top and bottom keep the painting straight when hanging. Another common form is the appliqué thangka made of silk. In China, Japan, and Korea, the favorite types are the horizontal landscape and narrative scrolls, usually ink on silk or paper. Scroll paintings are popular collectibles displayed in modern museums and galleries. Tibetan thangkas are to some extent still used for religious purposes.
Brief History
Painted scrolls in India are known from at least the second century BCE onwards. In China, the first scrolls appeared in the fourth century CE showing Buddhist motifs. During the seventh century, the landscape hand scroll became a favored medium for displaying landscape scenes. The art of the landscape scroll culminated in the masterpieces of Xu Daoning and Fan Kuan in the tenth and eleventh centuries. The technique of scroll painting was introduced to Japan from China during the eighth century. Departing from the Chinese model, which mainly depicted Confucian or Buddhist moral stories, Japanese artists tended to focus on narrative scenes from daily life. Unique within the Japanese paintings are the emakimono vertical scroll paintings, developed during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. They are up to nine meters in length and show a close relation between painting and narrative. Later, the vertical hanging scroll called kakemono was developed in order to decorate the alcove in Japanese houses. Scroll paintings used for the traditional tea ceremony are called chagake.
The earliest surviving examples of Tibetan painted art (ninth–tenth centuries CE) were discovered in the caves of Dunhuang, western China. Among them are some unique scroll paintings depicting Buddhist scenes. Scroll paintings from the eleventh and twelfth centuries, such as a Tārā from the Ford collection in Baltimore, show close ties to East Indian art. From 1200 CE onwards, Newari artisans came from the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal to Tibet and influenced Tibetan paintings. The Tibetan artists were furthermore influenced by the artistic style in Kashmir and China. The first autochthonous, or truly indigenous, Tibetan styles of art (bod bris) emerged in the fifteenth century. The coloring, the division of the picture into form and empty space leads to different types of composition expressing the particular symbolic meaning of the Buddhist motifs.
The old Menri (sMan-ris) school developed in the middle decades of the fifteenth century from the works of the outstanding master artist Menla Dondrub. His paintings became unique for the integration of blue and green Chinese landscapes and other Chinese features in the background. The master painter Kyentse created, contemporary to the old Menri, another unique painting style. The Kyenri (mKhyen-ris) school flourished in the second half of the fifteenth century and was characterized by thicker colors than the old Menri. The Kyenri artists were famous for their excellent paintings of tantric Buddha forms. Another remarkable style developed in the second half of the 16th century: the Karma Gardri (Karma-sgar-bris) school, or "style of the Karmapa encampments." This style is characterized by Indian forms, traditional Tibetan composition, and Chinese colors and texture. A remarkable innovation was the application of more subtle and restrained colors. The new Menri school was founded by artists working under the patronage of the fifth Dalai Lama (1617–1682).
Overview
Unlike western style paintings with their fixed frames, Asian scroll paintings are very flexible in use. The Chinese vertical hand scrolls are stored in boxes and were only taken out on special occasions. They are designed to be unrolled from right to left while lying on a flat surface. The beholder sees image sections sequentially and visually experiences the landscape as if walking through it.
In the Tibetan cultural area, thangkas are used to support meditation practice and rituals within Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. As inherent parts of Buddhist temples, monasteries, and private houses, they play a key role in religious life. The sacred thangkas are "receptacles" or representations of the body of the Buddha and are understood as an embodiment of enlightenment. They are believed to have soteriological functions. To produce or to commission a thangka is seen as an act of merit. Devotees may order a special scroll painting to overcome troubles and sickness. Other thangkas are made especially for religious practice, mainly as material support for the visualization generated during mediation. Thangkas also have public ceremonial uses. For example, at special religious holidays, large thangkas up to 108 meters in length are unrolled on a hillside for viewing and worship. Traditionally, lamas (teaching monks or yogis) often traveled with thangkas, which they unrolled when teaching Buddhism in order to illustrate the teaching, especially for those who could not read.
Many of the old traditional scroll paintings are on display in well-known museums and galleries, such as the Rubin Museum in New York. As there is still a need for scroll paintings, artists in Nepal and Tibet continue to produce traditional thangkas. However, the art market is roughly divided into two kinds of collectors. Monasteries and Buddhist laity commission high-quality, unique pieces, but lesser quality scrolls are also produced, mainly for the tourist markets in Kathmandu and elsewhere. In the twenty-first century, scroll paintings depicting contemporary topics have entered art-galleries worldwide. The well-attended Tradition Transformed: Tibetan Artists Respond, mounted by the Rubin Museum of Art, was the first exhibition of contemporary Tibetan art in a New York City museum. Furthermore, conferences such as Icons of Impermanence: Contemporary Buddhist Art held at BCU in Vancouver provide evidence for the increasing interest in Himalayan scroll painting. Since the 1980s, Western artists have also learned how to produce traditional-style Buddhist scroll paintings. This innovative development is a by-product of the increasing interest in Buddhism in the United States and Europe. Both historic and modern examples of scroll painting remained prized objects by both museums and private art collectors into the 2020s.
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