Page 190 - C.T. Loo A paper about his impact and activities in the Chinese art Market

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Bufano traveled to Jingdezhen, the center for ceramic production in China, where he

learned the processes of the Chinese glazes from local craftsmen. This China experience

had a profound impact on his art making, as the International Studio review observed,

“He was absorbed by the monumental calm, the unhurried certainty of an old, wise race.”

(Ackerman 1925, 375) The review, however, stated that what inspired Bufano was

primarily the decorative form of Chinese art. The review gave a description of the famous

Lohan statues that C. T. Loo introduced to the Met to illustrate the characteristics of the

Chinese art that inspired Bufano, “Seen in twilight against a glowing western sky so that

only the outline was sharp cut against the light they would have monumental and

expressive poise. Seen against a brocade curtain that confused the outline with its

continuous pattern they would be lovely and still expressive designs of colors and applied

patterns, even considered for the monument in the flat. Or seen in a sharply lighted

photograph that minimized outline and patterns and neglected color they would be a fine

articulation of massive segments defined by shadows and built into a coherent

equilibrium. This equal importance of all three qualities of composition is characteristic

of the great sculpture of the Orient.” (Ackerman 1925, 379) (Fig.58a) 389 The review saw

Bufano’s work as “sculptural decoration” because he was inspired by the elements of

outline, surface ornamentation, and mass that are embodied in Chinese sculptures

(Ackerman 1925, 378) (Fig. 58b). The review claimed, “In the sculpture of Beniamino

Bufano the forms of the Orient express Western ideas.” (Ackerman 1925, 375) In other

389
The author referred to the famous Lohan statues as “…one of the great Bodhisattvas
in glazed terra cotta made in the late Tang or early Sung period which were brought of
China not so long ago and placed in various Western museums, two of the finest going to
the Metropolitan” (Ackerman 1925, 379).