Page 67 - CHRISTIE'S Himalayan and SOutheast Asian Works of Art 09/13/17

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE WEST COAST COLLECTION Chemchog Heruka is a wrathful deity from the Nyingma sect of Tibetan
Buddhism who aids followers in overcoming ignorance. He has three faces
639 and six hands, the lower pair embracing his blue partner and holding a vajra
A LARGE THANGKA OF CHEMCHOG HERUKA and bell. His large wings stretch out behind him against an aureole of fames
representing pristine awareness. The couple is surrounded by various retinue
TIBET, 17TH/18TH CENTURY fgures in a spacious landscape.
Opaque pigments and gold on cloth
37√ x 26¡ in. (96 x 66.7 cm.) This large and fnely rendered painting is comparable to an east Tibetan
thangka in the Rubin Museum of Art, which displays a similar composition and
$18,000-25,000 use of space. However, as the Rubin thangka dates to about 200 years later
than the present work, we see the palette shift to more contrasting colors,
西藏 十七/十八世紀 嘿噜嘎唐卡 including the use of black, as well as a more formalized, static painting style
(F1997.14.1). For further comparison of the palette, spacious composition and
PROVENANCE the tightly rendered fame halos, see another thangka of Chemchog Heruka in
the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1967-246-2).
Sotheby’s New York, 16 September 1999, lot 68.
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Himalayan Art Resource (himalayanart.org), item no. 24338