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The Influence of the Buddhist Sculptor Unkei: With a Focus on Koen and Zen’en

  • Image of "Seated Monju Bosatsu (Manjusri), From among the sculptures of Monju Bosatsu on a lion with attendants (detail), By Koen, Formerly passed down at Kofukuji, Nara, Kamakura period, dated 1273 (Important Cultural Property)"

    Seated Monju Bosatsu (Manjusri), From among the sculptures of Monju Bosatsu on a lion with attendants (detail), By Koen, Formerly passed down at Kofukuji, Nara, Kamakura period, dated 1273 (Important Cultural Property)

    Japanese Gallery (Honkan) Room 14
    August 29, 2017 (Tue) - December 3, 2017 (Sun)

    The realistic style of the Buddhist sculptor Unkei (d. 1223), with its powerful, dynamic forms and rich expression of volume, had an undeniable influence on the sculptors of later generations. Unkei’s grandson, Koen (b. 1207), for example, inherited his grandfather’s style and succeeded in making it more approachable, while the sculptors of the Zenpa school, including Zen’en (1197–1258), elaborated on Unkei’s style in the Nara region. This thematic exhibition explores how these sculptors inherited and transformed the style of Unkei in the Kamakura period (1192–1333).

     

 Major works in this exhibition
* Works listed below are in the TNM Collection unless otherwise indicated.
 Major works in this exhibition
* Works listed below are in the TNM Collection unless otherwise indicated.
Standing Monju Bosatsu (Manjusri), Kamakura period, 13th century
Seated Aizen Myo'o (Ragaraja), By Koen, Kamakura period, dated 1275 (Important Cultural Property, Lent by Jingoji, Kyoto)
Standing Bosatsu (Bodhisattva), Kamakura period, 13th century (Important Cultural Property)
Seated Monju Bosatsu (Manjusri), From among the sculptures of Monju Bosatsu on a lion with attendants, By Koen, Formerly passed down at Kofukuji, Nara, Kamakura period, dated 1273 (Important Cultural Property)
Standing Zenzai Doji (Sudhana), From among the sculptures of Monju Bosatsu on a lion with attendants, By Koen, Formerly passed down at Kofukuji, Nara, Kamakura period, dated 1273 (Important Cultural Property)
 

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