When I started this blog I was posting photos of my own artwork, and I thought it might be confusing to have the same name as another artist, so I added the words “things that aren’t buddha”.
Now that the blog has grown into something much bigger than just my own artwork, I have removed those words from the title, but I still feel a little bad about appropriating that other artist’s name. So I am giving credit to him here.
For more by this artist and links to his work, visit http://www.artandapplesauce.com/blog/2013-04-16-60-buddha-wall-art.html
Welcome to the Buddha Wall Art Blog. This is a blog about Buddhist art and non-Buddhist art. It also features links to pages on this site that are related to painting, drawing, design and other artistic endeavors.
This blog features original paintings, drawings, and photos of Buddha images and sculptures as well as popular culture images that include the Buddha or Buddhist themes. Please feel free to leave comments with your thoughts on the piece or the artist and you will be entered into a monthly drawing for an original painting. Thank you for visiting.
Buddha is the name commonly given to Siddhartha Gautama, who became one of the most revered spiritual teachers in history. Buddha means “awakened one” or “the enlightened one,” and Siddhartha Gautama is believed by Buddhists to be a self-realized being who chose to teach others how to attain enlightenment. Buddha was around during the 6th Century B.C., and his teachings continue to be practiced today by more than 500 million people worldwide.
Tibetan Buddha statues, decorated with intricate designs and colors, are often used as decorative elements in shrines and temples. The depictions of Buddha can vary depending on the school of Buddhism; however, in Mahayana Buddhism, Buddha is often represented with a serene expression on his face, wearing monk’s robes and holding an alms bowl and a lotus flower. Some statues even depict him sitting on a lion and surrounded by other animals.
In this blog entry I have compiled for you a list of 60 beautiful Buddha wall art that you might want to consider if you are thinking of adding some decoration items to your home or office walls. These 60 images will give you more options in terms of what kind of decorations you can add to your home’s
In the past I have argued that a Buddhist view of art does not require that an artwork be religious. Here I would like to propose a simple definition of what is and isn’t Buddhist art.
Buddhist art is art that engages non-Buddhist ideas and forms. What do I mean by engage? For example, if a Buddhist artist starts working with Christian iconography, or even appropriates them (an act which is controversial in itself) then the work is engaged; if not, the work is not engaged.
The reason I would like to define Buddhist art in this way is because it clarifies what Buddhist art isn’t. While there are plenty of examples of Buddhist art on this blog, often mixed with other styles, some people find it confusing when they see me write about non-Buddhist art. Hence this post.
What do you do when you find art that was made a long time ago? How can you tell if it’s Buddhist or not? There are several things to consider.
First, one of the most important rules for evaluating art is that it should be judged by its intent, not its content. The intent behind a work is often not obvious and may be hard to find out, but intent is the key to understanding and appreciating art.
Trying to understand the intent of an artist from the content is like trying to understand a book by reading only the index. The author’s ideas, style and intentions are all reflected in the content, but so are all sorts of other things: what was going on in the world at the time, who he was writing about and for, his personal biases and opinions. In fact, a writer often uses all kinds of tricks to make his book difficult to read if he wants. (Think James Joyce.)
In addition to being unfair to the artist, judging art by its content rather than its intent also leads us astray when we try to apply Buddhist values of non-judgment and compassion. When we look at art through this lens, almost everything becomes offensive because our ideas of beauty and value differ from culture to culture,
ArtsPainter is a contributor at Arts Painter. We are committed to providing well-researched, accurate, and valuable content to our readers.
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