Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art
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The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art is located on Lighthouse Hill in Staten Island New York. The Museum is housed in two fieldstone buildings designed to resemble a Himalayan monastery. The museum was built between 1945 and 1947 with the patronage of Jacqueline Klauber (maiden name: Edna Koblentz), wife of Harry Klauber. She was an actress and Asian art dealer known professionally by the name Jacques Marchais. Although she never visited Tibet, she became fascinated with Tibetan art and culture in the 1930s and spent the rest of her life collecting Tibetan art and artifacts which finally led to the founding and building of the museum in the 1940s.
The museum has a collection of over 1,200 pieces of primarily Tibetan Buddhist art dating from the 15th to the 20th century, including metal sculptures, thangkas, ritual objects, and historical photographs. The collection includes depictions of Shakyamuni Buddha, arhats, and other lamas; meditational deities or yidams; and buddhas and bodhisattvas.
In 1991 Tenzin Gyatso the 14th Dalai Lama visited the museum when he is reported having stated: "There is a real danger of the disappearance of the unique Tibetan culture. So at such a time, this kind of work is very, very useful, very helpful....I feel that I see part of a Tibetan antique collection, ancient Tibetan things."
The distinctive site is built in the style of a hillside Tibetan monastary and includes grounds with terraced gardens, a lotus pond and views of New York Bay. The musuem has a calendar of year-round activities. The gift shop at the museum features items handmade by Tibetan artisans.
See also
External links
- Official website (http://www.tibetanmuseum.org)
References
- Treasures of Tibetan Art: The Collections of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art by the staff of the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, Nima Dorjee Ragnubs and Barbara Lipton (New York, 1996) ISBN 0195097149