Page 14 - Bonhams May 11th 2017 London Thangka Collection

B A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE JONGEN-SCHLEIPER
12 | BONHAMS COLLECTION OF FINE THANGKAS

Jeff Watt

For those individuals that appreciate or collect Himalayan style art, then
the world, the Northern hemisphere at least, should be a pretty fascinating
place to live. Every major and many smaller museums have collections of
art deemed to be from Tibet, Mongolia, Nepal or some such extraordinary
country or region. For every major museum with a significant collection
there are probably five or six major private collectors with equally significant
holdings, along with many smaller collectors, and innumerable art dealers,
some with their own modest or immodest collections. Most museum
collections are buried deep in storage. Sometimes sculpture, possibly very
good sculpture, is on display, a little like an iceberg hinting at a great mass
hidden beneath the surface. Despite the bulk of Himalayan style art not being
seen on a regular basis there is still just enough in the major museums to
entertain and educate. There are also publications, hundreds and hundreds
of publications, theorising and speculating on the nature, iconography and art
history of Himalayan style art. By today’s standards the scholarly or amateur
written content for most of those books are politely deemed outdated.
However, the images in those early publications, black and white or colour,
are a treasure, a vast resource of objects that are rarely seen.

So, despite the museum collections being buried in deep storage there are
always the past publications, the art catalogues. When including auction
house catalogues, there are thousands of publications each filled with
images of painting and sculpture of all manner and type. That is the important
point. We do have access to the great wealth of Himalayan style art through
museums, private collections, art exhibitions, art auctions and on a daily
basis, through publications.

Collecting is not a science. There are no hard and fast rules. Collecting is
sometimes said to be based on emotions, aesthetics, appreciation, value
or investment, or a little of all. Another important factor is availability. For
both museums and private collectors, availability of art is often the key
in establishing the character of a collection. In the West, early Himalayan
painting and sculpture has often been considered more aesthetically pleasing
and of a greater value which hints at a little snobbishness which can also
be inherent in the collecting, museum and art world in general. Thankfully
the field has moved away from this narrow point of view and recognised the
tremendous quality of works that have been created over the centuries right
up to the present day. Some scholars argue that some of the finest and most
creative Tibetan style paintings can be found between the late 17th century
and the mid-19th century in East Tibet.