Page | 55Arts
Painting and Sculpture
Traditional Mongolian art is heavily imbued with
religious imagery and reminiscent of styles seen
in Tibetan art, not surprising given the long
history of cultural ties between these two
regions.295,^296 These paintings were typically done
on cloth and framed with silk. In some cases, the
religious “paintings” were actually silk appliqués
sewn onto the cloth.^297
Popular in the 19th and 20th centuries, Zurag is a
later style of Mongolia art. It emphasizes secular themes—in particular, daily life on the
Mongolian steppes. Balduugiyn Sharav (1869–1939) is the best-known artist of this
style.
(^298) His One Day in Mongolia is often credited as Mongolia’s most famous
painting.^299
Mongolia’s sculptural works, like its paintings, long displayed a religious orientation.
Bogd Gegeen Zanabazar (1635–1723), the first Mongolian to hold the title Jebtsundama
Khutuktu (“Living Buddha”), is renowned to this day for his bronze casts of Buddhist
deities. Many of his sculptures remain in monasteries and museums throughout
Mongolia.
Its depiction of a nomadic encampment is sweeping in its detail, providing a
glimpse into nearly all aspects of the nomadic lifestyle.
(^300) A direct descendent of Genghis Khan, Zanabazar is known as the
“Michelangelo of Asia” and is remembered fondly for “offering a regional renaissance in
theology, language, astronomy, and art.”^301
(^295) Terese Tse Bartholomew, “Mongolian Exhibition: Introduction to the Art of Mongolia,” AsianArt.com,
7 September 1995,
http://www.asianart.com/mongolia/introduct.html
(^296) Michael Koln, “The Culture: Arts: Painting and Sculpture,” in Mongolia, 5th ed. (Footscray, Victoria,
Australia: Lonely Planet Publications, 2008), 40.
(^297) Pang Guek Cheng, “10: Arts: Painting and Sculpture,” in Cultures of the World: Mongolia (Tarrytown,
NY: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2010), 101.
(^298) Pang Guek Cheng, “10: Arts: Painting and Sculpture,” in Cultures of the World: Mongolia (Tarrytown,
NY: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2010), 102.
(^299) Face Music, “Mongolian Artwork, Handicraft,” 1998, http://www.face-
music.ch/bi_bid/trad_oilpainting.html
(^300) Michael Koln, “Zanabazar: The Michelangelo of the Steppes,” in Mongolia, 5th ed. (Footscray,
Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications, 2008), 142.
(^301) Tibetan Mongolian Museum Society, “Zanabazar, Bogd Gegeen—the First Respondent Saint of
Mongolia, n.d., http://www.tibetan-museum-society.org/tibetan-art-museum-
gallery/exhibit.php?id=1&sortby=category