Buddha's Footprints #1
Artist
Kamol Tassananchalee
(Thai, b. 1944)
Date2004
MaterialsAcrylic on paper
DimensionsOverall (.A): H. 18 in × W. 53 1/4 in (45.7 cm × 135.3 cm)
Overall (.B): H. 19 1/2 in × W. 52 in (49.5 cm × 132.1 cm)
Overall (.B): H. 19 1/2 in × W. 52 in (49.5 cm × 132.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Professor and Mrs. Herbert P. Phillips
Object number2010.520.a-.b
DepartmentSoutheast Asian Art
ClassificationsPainting
On View
Not on viewMarkingspencil signature on the right corner of .B; title and name on both verso
More InformationThe soles of the Buddha’s feet and his footprints have long been important emblems in Buddhism. Footprints suggest the presence of the Buddha even when he is absent. The soles of his feet, with their elaborate auspicious symbols and designs, suggest the Buddha’s superhuman nature.
Artist Kamol Tassananchalee reports that he was inspired in part by the famous foot soles of a reclining Buddha at one of Bangkok’s oldest and most important temples. Kamol has lived in southern California for many decades but still says, “I take pleasure in living my life as a Thai artist.” In 1997 he was named a Thai National Artist.
At the same time, according to scholar Herbert P. Phillips, Kamol “acknowledges his deep artistic debts to Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg [major twentieth-century American artists], and the motifs of American Indian cultures.”
Artist Kamol Tassananchalee reports that he was inspired in part by the famous foot soles of a reclining Buddha at one of Bangkok’s oldest and most important temples. Kamol has lived in southern California for many decades but still says, “I take pleasure in living my life as a Thai artist.” In 1997 he was named a Thai National Artist.
At the same time, according to scholar Herbert P. Phillips, Kamol “acknowledges his deep artistic debts to Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg [major twentieth-century American artists], and the motifs of American Indian cultures.”
