"The Tenth Karmapa, Chöying Dorje ( ཀརྨ་པ ༡༠ ཆོས་དབྱིངས་རྡོ་རྗེ། 1604-1674), was among the most original artists in Tibetan history. Looking at his use of color and the treatment of human and animal figures, one would hardly guess that they were the creations of a 17th-century Tibetan artist, so fresh was his personal vision. The life of the Tenth Karmapa offered many conditions for the latent artistic talent of the Karmapas to manifest fully. The 10th Karmapa lived through a turbulent time that brought dramatic changes to the position of the Karma Kagyu in Tibet. The 17th century’s sectarianism resulted in the return of Mongol forces to Tibetan soil. In one terrible attack, the Karmapa’s entire Great Encampment was demolished, and its residents injured or killed. Only Chöying Dorje and an attendant managed to escape (...) . However, he was able to draw on his artistic ability to bring beauty and inspiration to the world. The Tenth Karmapa created at least one sacred image each and every day of his adult life, and presented most of them to others. Chöying Dorje’s extraordinary paintings, as well as the statues, reveal this great master’s unique vision and his ability to manifest what he alone saw for that others to view as well. At the same time, Chöying Dorje’s art displays his responsiveness to many other forms, as he integrated elements ranging from Chinese landscape painting to Kashmiri sculptural styles. View some of Chöying Dorje’s paintings here, and his sculptures here. (...)" Excerpts from the book: "Karmapa: 900 Years". Published in 2010 by the Karmapa 900 Organizing Committee. undefined

More on Google