Tinley Chojor was a very well-known name in Buddhist art circles.

Chojor painted many many beautiful things, among them the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra Monastery in Woodstock, NY, just across the mountain from where my best friend and his family had a house in the area, and where I spent many happy hours as a young man in my 20s.


Times Herald-Record/DEBORAH MEDENBACH

This is a picture of Chojor in Woodstock, takinga break from his work.

Chojor's awesome lines were second only to his deep belief in the philosophy he was charged with painting. He was a native to Tibet, who learned the art from his father.

This story is from the Times Herald Record, based in the Hudson Valley, where I lived for almost a decade.

I would say I'm sad, but not really. He had an amazing life and leaves behind an amazing legacy of great art - ceratinly the best at his craft in the states, if not all of the world. According to the Buddhist principles that Chojor based his life and art on, he's already moved on toward his next life.

Rest in peace to a great artist.

This is pretty cool, especially considering that a) the philosophy of the Buddha was about the impermanance of all things and b) it's in Bamayan region of Afghanistan - well associated with the destruction of the giant stone Buddhas there by the taliban in 2001 - and these paintings are the earliest oils known.



This story is from Discovery News.

The giant stone buddhas are blown-up. Much gnashing of teeth. Seven years later, more, and rarer images show up in a hidden cave.

Afghanistan is so widely associated with Islam and the taliban, that it's easy to forget how important the region was in terms of the Buddhist way for several hundred years. It was a center of study and art and monasteries.

I hope these paintings are kept safe and sound. If not, never fear. It's all about impermanence anyway...

Wow.

This an awesome sculpture, but - perhaps, jus' a l'il bit - overpriced. $14M? That's Monopoly money, right? right? Of course, it was a t Christie's, so I'm betting the bid wasn't all about the piece itself.

I couldn't imagine spending that kind of cash on something, plus, I can't help but think that spending that kind of money on a piece of sculpture - a relic of the material world, which - according to The Buddha - doesn't even really exist, except in the constructs of our minds as determined by karma - that is completely contrary to the teachings it represents...

Hmmm... Have to mediate on that one.

Oh, and I really love the blog that I pulled this story from - Bad at sports - which is an often humorous look at the world of contemporary art...

At least in art officialy, but you gotta figure antiquities and antiques - which China has been placing ever-tightening restrictions on - make up a big part of this number, and represent a huge figure in and of itself.

This is interesting news released by China's official state news agency, Xinhua, about the mainland now being number three in art sales, displacing France.

The U.S. and U.K. are sitting pretty in first with huge market shares, but - as with almost every market - look out for the Chinese boom. I'm sure India isn't too far behind.

China has been ripe for a while for an explosion in art and antiques. When The Cultural Revolution destroyed thousands of years of Dynasty, a lot of the classic art and antiques went into hiding in the vast countryside. Now all of that has been coming out and the prices are exoribitant in many cases - that's if you can get it out of the country.

The government there knows now what it's cultural heritage is worth, even if they forgot for a couple of generations. Now it's cashing in.