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Additional Views

May 30, 2007

May 21, 2007

May 29, 2007

May 21, 2007

May 29, 2007

May 21, 2007

May 29, 2007

May 21, 2007

Brahma

late 900s–1000s

South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola dynasty, late 10th - early 11th century

Granite

Overall: 162.6 x 48 cm (64 x 18 7/8 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund, this work was accepted in honor of Stanislaw Czuma in recognition of his long service to the CMA 2007.155

Location

243 Indian and Southeast Asian

Did you know?

The back of the sculpture retains the original textured surface from a pointed chisel, suggesting it was in a niche or near a wall, protected from worshippers’ touches.

Description

In the Hindu pantheon Brahma is in charge of carrying out the work of creation. In this tour-de-force of South Indian temple sculpture, he is in a special regal aspect, with the only elements of his typical priestly appearance being the prayer beads and the matted dreadlocks piled on his head.

Four arms connote superhuman power, and four heads convey the idea that his creative activities spread in all four directions. His upper right hand enjoins freedom from fear, and the lower holds a lotus bud associated with birth and the process of creation. His lowered left hand is held in the gift-giving gesture, suggestive of the gift of creation he will bestow upon the world.

Video

Provenance

?–1927

(C. T. Loo & Co. New York, NY, sold to Mrs. George A. [Lucie Matter] Forman [c. 1883–1952] for gift to the Albright Knox Art Gallery) ¹

1927–2007

Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY, deaccessioned and consigned to Sotheby's, New York for sale

March 23, 2007

(Sotheby's, New York, NY, March 23, 2007, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)

2007–

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Provenance Footnotes

¹Lucie Matter (c. 1883-1952) married George Alfred Forman (1875-1923). Mr. Forman was the founder, president, and principal stockholder of "Southwestern Petroleum Company." Later after his death, she married Harry Blanchard Spaulding (1881-1955).

Citations

O. C. Gangoly, “Some Images of Brahma of the Chola Period,” Rupam, Nos. 35-36, July-October 1928, pp. 29-30. Reproduced: fig. A

Eastman, Alvan C. “A Brahma Image of the X-XI Century.” Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts of the City of Detroit, vol. 10, no. 3, 1928, pp. 34–36 Reproduced: cover; Mentioned: pp. 34–36 www.jstor.org

Buffalo Fine Arts Academy Notes. vol. 21, no. 1 (May 1930). Reproduced: p. 4

Buffalo Fine Arts Academy Notes. vol. 22, no. 1 (September 1930). Reproduced: p. 40

Ritchie, Andrew Carnduff ed. Catalogue of the Paintings and Sculpture in the Permanent Collection. [Buffalo]: Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, Albright Art Gallery, 1949. p. 154, no. 70

Lippe, Aschwin. “Divine Images in Stone and Bronze,” Metropolitan Museum Journal, Vol. 4, 1971, pp. 29-79. Reproduced: figs. 10-11, p. 38 www.jstor.org

Nash, Steven A., Katy Kline, Charlotta Kotik, and Emese Wood. Painting and Sculpture from Antiquity to 1942. New York: Rizzoli International Publications in association with the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York,1979. pp. 90-91

Kramrisch, Stella. Manifestations of Shiva. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1981. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 45, p. 54

Sotheby's New York. Indian & Southeast Asian Art: Including Property of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York. March 23, 2007. Reproduced: Lot 27

Failing, Patricia. "The Hard Sell?," ARTnews, vol. 106 no. 6 (June 2007). p. 55

Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 47 (September 2007): 3-4. Reproduced: cover and pp. 3-4 archive.org

Andrews, Isabel, John Mallet, and Samson Spanier. "To Sell-Or Not to Sell" Apollo: The International Magazine for Collectors, September 2007, Vol. 166, pp. 34-39. p. 38

Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 47 (October 2007): back cover. Reproduced: back cover

“Art of Asia Acquired by North American Museums, 2006-2008.” Archives of Asian Art, vol. 58, 2008, pp. 137–185. Reproduced: p. 152, fig.9. www.jstor.org

Franklin, David. “Recent Acquisitions (2005—11) at the Cleveland Museum of Art.” The Burlington Magazine, vol. 154, no. 1312, 2012, pp. 525–532. Reproduced: p. 527, fig. VI www.jstor.org

Bidwell, Frederick E. and Leslie Cade. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: Cleveland Museum of Art; New York, NY: Scala Arts Publishers, 2014. Reproduced: pp. 206-207

Exhibition history

Exhibition of Hindu, Khmer, Chinese Sculptures and Early Chinese Bronzes. Wildenstein Galleries, New York, NY (1927).

Manifestations of Shiva. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, WA; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (1981–1982).

Shiva and His Many Incarnations. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (June 24, 2007-March 5, 2008).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Brahma|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/2007.155|year=late 900s–1000s|access-date=11 December 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Brahma

Brahma

South India, Tamil Nadu, Chola dynasty, late 10th - early 11th century

Location

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Description

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Provenance Footnotes

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