The Five Hundred Arhats, Wu Bin, 1591-1626, Cleveland Museum of Art: Chinese ArtDisciples of the Bud
The Five Hundred Arhats, Wu Bin, 1591-1626, Cleveland Museum of Art: Chinese ArtDisciples of the Buddha with supernatural powers, arhats (also called lohans) populate this scroll. Far advanced on the path to enlightenment, they have not yet reached full Buddhahood. Traditionally depicted with foreign features, they have the capacity to tame tigers, free dragons, and to float on water or in the air. Originally from Fujian province, the artist Wu Bin moved to Nanjing by 1600 where he was affiliated as a Buddhist layman with the Qixia temple. He specialized in landscapes and Buddhist subjects. The gnarled and grotesque figures delineated in brush lines without shading, combined with light pastel colors, reveal Wu Bin’s originality and inventiveness. More than 66 feet long and probably the most complex of the artist’s figural compositions, this scroll depicts 500 arhats, 18 attendants, and Guanyin, the bodhisattva of compassion, at its very end. The result is an engaging and amusing assortment of characters.Size: Overall: 39.5 x 2646.5 cm (15 9/16 x 1041 15/16 in.); Painting only: 37.7 x 2347 cm (14 13/16 x 924 in.)Medium: handscroll, ink and color on paperhttps://clevelandart.org/art/1971.16 -- source link
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