Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia
Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia
Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia presents an international survey of Buddhism and Buddhist art, beginning with the religion’s origins in India and following its spread through mainland and island Southeast Asia (Myanmar [Burma], Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Indonesia), the Himalayas (Kashmir, Nepal, and Tibet), and East Asia (China, Korea, and Japan). Incorporating 180 masterpieces of pan-Asian Buddhist art, the exhibition introduces key concepts of Buddhist thought and practice viewed through the prism of rare and extraordinarily beautiful Buddhist sculptures, paintings, and ritual objects.
Drawn from LACMA’s permanent collection, with several significant loans from private collections, the exhibition explores the life of the Buddha, the role of the bodhisattva or Buddhist savior, Buddhist cosmology, and such key concepts as dharma, karma, nirvana, mantra, mudra, and mandala. The show will focus on art associated with such key phases of Buddhism as Theravada (early monastic Buddhism), Mahayana (the “Great Vehicle”), Vajrayana (the “Diamond Vehicle”—tantric or esoteric Buddhism), and Chan (Zen).
Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia is temporarily closed. This exhibition will reopen on Saturday, November 8.
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Generous support provided by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation and Jennifer and Mark McCormick.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by The David & Meredith Kaplan Foundation, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation and Ezra and Lauren Perlman, with generous annual funding from Tanya Fileva, Mary and Daniel James, Bert Levy Fund, Justin Lubliner, Alfred E. Mann Charities, Kelsey Lee Offield, Lenore and Richard Wayne, and Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto.
Crowned Buddha, c. 1250–1300, copper alloy, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Michael Phillips and Juliana Maio, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
- May 11, 2025–Jul 12, 2026
- Resnick Pavilion
- Realms of the Dharma: Buddhist Art Across Asia is temporarily closed. This exhibition will reopen on Saturday, November 8.
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
Generous support provided by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation and Jennifer and Mark McCormick.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by The David & Meredith Kaplan Foundation, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation and Ezra and Lauren Perlman, with generous annual funding from Tanya Fileva, Mary and Daniel James, Bert Levy Fund, Justin Lubliner, Alfred E. Mann Charities, Kelsey Lee Offield, Lenore and Richard Wayne, and Marietta Wu and Thomas Yamamoto.
Crowned Buddha, c. 1250–1300, copper alloy, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of Michael Phillips and Juliana Maio, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA