Page 61 - September 20th 2021, Indian and Himalayan Art Christie's NYC

A RARE BLACK GROUND
CHATURBHUJA MAHAKALA

This vivid and spectacular painting of the Buddhist protector deity, Of the three dominant painting styles of the eighteenth century,
Chaturbhuja Mahakala (‘The Great Black One with Four Arms’), is an the present work most closely follows the Khyenri style, originated
exceptional illustration of the Tibetan black-ground painting tradition. by Khyentse Chenmo of Gongkar Chode in Central Tibet. Aspects
With its fiery reds and oranges and rich hues of green and blues of the Khyenri style, all apparent in the present work, include the
contrasted against the matte black ground, the painting exemplifies open, uncrowded background, clouds rendered in multiple colors,
the tradition as it approaches its apotheosis in the second half of the and stylized and schematic flame mandorlas. See, for example,
eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth centuries. a non-black-ground painting of Chaturbhuja Mahakala in the
collection of the Museum der Kulteren, Basel, illustrated by D.
At its center sits the ferocious Chaturbhuja Mahakala, his eyes bulging Jackson in A Revolutionary Artist of Tibet, Seattle, 2016, p. 53,
and his mouth agape with lolling tongue and bared fangs. In his lower fig. 2.10, and on Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 3314487, and
hands, he holds a heart-shaped coconut and a blood-filled kapala closely identified with the Khyenri style by Jackson. Compare the
(skull cup), and in his upper hands he holds aloft a flaming sword and palette and painting style with a black-ground painting of Danda
khatvanga staff tipped with a trident. His torso is wrapped with writhing Mahakala in the collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin, illustrated
snakes and garlanded with a sinewy necklace of severed heads, while on Himalayan Art Resources, item no. 22: the treatment of the
a tiger skin covers his thighs. A five-pointed skull crown sits before swirling clouds in vibrant hues of green and blue are closely related
his wild mane of hair, and his overall form is backed by an aureole in both paintings, and the delicately painted golden foliate scroll
of flames. To the left and right of Mahakala are eight animal-faced on the cloak of the Danda Mahakala mirrors the circular ribbon
wrathful female retinue figures as found on the mandala of Chaturbhuja surrounding the face of Chaturbhuja Mahakala in the present work.
Mahakala; all clutch curved knives and skull cups, are clad in leopard- See, also, a black ground painting of Mahakala Panjarnata, sold
skin skirts, and most are backed by cloud clusters. Below, from left to at Christie's New York, 20 March 2019, lot 666; while stylistically
right, are Kakasyamukha (‘The Raven-Faced One’), Simhamukha (‘The different from the present painting, it demonstrates the vivacity
Lion-Faced One’), and Chandika, the consort of Chaturbhuja Mahakala, of the black ground painting tradition in the eighteenth and early
depicted red in color, and a number of smaller retinue figures, including nineteenth centuries.
two monkeys standing on their hands and supporting offering bowls
with their feet. Senator Theodore Francis Green (1867-1966) was governor of the
state of Rhode Island from 1933-1937, and served as the United
At the top center of the painting, Chakrasamvara strides in alidhasana States senator for Rhode Island from 1937-1961. At his retirement
and holds his consort, Vajravarahi. On either side of Chakrasamvara are at the age of ninety-three, he was the oldest sitting United States
two seated figures, each identified by inscription: at top left, depicted senator in history, a record which was only surpassed by Senator
with an ushnisha and backed by a halo with writhing snakes, is Arya Strom Thurmond, who served until his death at 100. Green, a
Nagarjuna, an Indian monk of roughly the first or second century CE, lifelong bachelor from a wealthy New England family, was an avid
and an important lineage figure. In the top right, wearing a red pandita collector of Asian art, especially paintings from China and Japan,
hat, sits Gvalo, a Tibetan lama and another important lineage figure. many of which were sold as part of his estate across four auctions
Another black-ground painting from the collection of Senator Theodore at Sotheby Parke Bernet in 1967 and 1968. The remainder of his
Francis Green, now in a private collection, and almost certainly from collection was sold by his nephew, Robert C. Green, Jr.; a collection
the same set as the present painting, depicts Chakrasamvara at center of Korean tile rubbings originally from the collection of Theodore
and Phagmo Drupa Dorje Gyalpo and Taklung Tangpa Tashi Pel in the Francis Green, accessioned by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
top left and right corners, respectively, helping to identify the set as a (acc. no. 68.434.9), bear his handwritten description and inventory
belonging to Taklung Kagyu lineage. number, which matches the handwriting and inventory system of a
tag found on the present work.