The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts in St Louis will present a selection of some of the greatest Buddhist sculptures and hanging scrolls held in United States collections, representing several major traditions and sites of production from the late 2nd to the 18th centuries from September 9 in the exhibition Reflections of the Buddha.
Each of the twenty-two historic masterworks chosen for the exhibition will be installed to permit the attentive, unhurried viewing for which the Foundation is known.
Three related works of contemporary art will add resonance to the experience: a set of photographs by Hiroshi Sugimoto conveys the sensation of seeing 1001 sculptures of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara; a video by Columbian artist Oscar Muñoz evokes the evanescence of life; and a major work by Ellsworth Kelly, Blue Black, created specifically for the Foundation as a permanent feature of its building, provides a meditative focal point in the exhibition.
Artworks exhibited in Reflections of the Buddha are on loan from Asia Society, New York; Sylvan Barnet and William Burto Collection; Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum; The Minneapolis Institute of Arts; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art; Saint Louis Art Museum; Oscar Muñoz/Sicardi Gallery; and a private collection.
