Page 8 - Bonhams NYC Portraits of the Masters Bronzes march 2017

THE PORTRAITS OF THE
MASTERS COLLECTION

While the stylized representations of Tibetan Buddhism’s deities are now
known to the world, similar appreciation for its important cultural figures,
immortalized in bronze and painting with unique and eccentric features, is
only just coming to the fore.

Thirty years in the making, this collection of 108 bronzes represents the
largest and most discriminating private (or public) collection of Tibet’s
historic teachers and political agents in the West.

Presented throughout Don Dinwiddie’s landmark book, Portraits of the
Masters: Bronze Sculptures of the Tibetan Buddhist Lineages, and Ramon
Prats’ exhibition catalog, Monasterios y Lamas del Tibet, the collection
forms the first and only encyclopedic reference on the subject.

Meanwhile, every piece displays some refined detail, impressive size, rare
subject, or special charisma that sets it apart from more mundane versions
commonly appearing on the market. It is a testament to the collector’s eye,
but also to his foresight, to have been able to gather this treasure trove in
the 1970s-90s, while few at the time recognized the unique value of such
singular pieces.