LACMA

Ahmanson, Level 4: Artworks on view

The collection consists of paintings, sculptures, and decorative art from India, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. Bronze and Iron Age objects from Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand are on view along with Buddhist and Hindu sculpture from all periods and regions. The collection is especially notable for its early Tibetan and Nepalese paintings, sculpture, furniture, and decorative arts.

Seu, Pandit (attributed to)

The Earth Quakes, but the Art Stays Still

April 13, 2010

There are a variety of mounts used for all kinds of sculptures around the museum, but the most sophisticated isolators are used for especially large freestanding sculptures. John estimates there are about five such isolators currently in use in the galleries. Two of them are in the South and Southeast Asian galleries on the fourth floor of the Ahmanson Building—the “worst-case-scenario” galleries in the museum, he tells me. Based on years of observation we know that this floor of the Ahmanson moves the most during earthquakes. In fact, during the Northridge earthquake in 1994, before the current isolators had been invented, the tenth-century Hindu God Vishnu, which stands more than seven feet tall, toppled from its mount, its head separating from its body. (Luckily, it should be noted, the statue was originally acquired in two parts; it broke in the exact spot where it had previously been separated.) In fact if you go into the gallery today you can still see a mark on the floor from the crash.

The Mystery of The Aristocratic Women

May 4, 2010

Mysteries abound in the art treasures of LACMA, and none more profoundly puzzling than The Aristocratic Women, on the fourth floor of the Ahmanson Building in the South and Southeast Asian art gallery. The sculpture depicts a Buddhist tale known as “The Necklace of Thread.” It appears that the future Buddha resolved, rather judiciously, the mystery of the necklace’s rightful owner by examining its scent. It is one of five beautifully crafted sculptures of Buddhist icons from a region known as Gandhara in the second and third century, today known as Afghanistan and Pakistan. In 326 B.C. Alexander the Great had attempted to add this region to his empire. Though he failed, Hellenistic culture nevertheless filtered its way into the region.

Galvanizing the Monkey Army and Other Stunning Feats

November 18, 2009