Transcendent Bliss

For nearly 2000 years Chinese artists and craftsmen have created works of Buddhist art. According to the branch of Buddhism that took hold in China, all creatures that are conscious have the potential of becoming enlightened. Monks and nuns, priests, Lohans (disciples of the Buddha), Bodhisattvas (saint-like enlightened beings), and Buddhas (eternal beings that are the embodiment of universal and cosmic truth) are each at a different stage of the path on the way to enlightenment.

This exhibition takes as its subjects these beings and the transcendent bliss they seek. Featured are selected examples of carved and molded sculptures, colorful textiles and paintings, and sacred texts created for devotion and display.