Toward a History of Bhutanese Art

This CGII Center Grant supports the next phase of targeted field research in the South Asian nation of Bhutan, part of a larger project on the roles of specific individuals in creating a distinctive ‘Bhutanese art’ between the 17th-19th centuries. Toward a History of Bhutanese Art combines analyses of textually attested artists and commissions alongside their extant works with three main goals: address what distinguishes Bhutanese Buddhist art from that of its cultural neighbors (e.g., Tibet and Nepal); identify systems of patronage and the artists behind its creation; and examine the political and social—as well as religious—messages communicated by works of art and architecture. In so doing, the project aims to contribute toward the first systematic art history study of Bhutan.