The Jeweled Isle: Art from Sri Lanka
The Jeweled Isle: Art from Sri Lanka
The first comprehensive survey of Sri Lankan art organized by an American museum, The Jeweled Isle: Art from Sri Lanka presents some 240 works addressing nearly two millennia of Sri Lankan history. The image of a bejeweled isle, first invoked in Greco-Roman accounts of Sri Lanka’s precious gems, inspired numerous literary descriptions of the island’s wealth and tropical beauty. The Jeweled Isle includes precious decorative objects fashioned from gold, silver, and ivory, and 19th-century photographs documenting Sri Lanka’s extraordinary monuments, scenery, and flora. Several artworks convey the importance of sacred sites and relics in Sri Lankan Buddhist practice, while rare images of Hindu gods attest to the long and constant interaction between Sri Lanka and South India. Exquisite ivories, textiles, and furnishings further reflect nearly four centuries of European colonial presence in Sri Lanka and the dynamic interaction between local and foreign visual traditions. Featuring LACMA’s rarely displayed collection of Sri Lankan art—one of the finest and most extensive in the U.S—the exhibition presents a timely exploration and celebration of a geographically complex, ethnically diverse, and multicultural South Asian hub.
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
This project has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by Kitzia and Richard Goodman and Meredith and David Kaplan, with generous annual funding from Jerry and Kathleen Grundhofer, the Judy and Bernard Briskin Family Foundation, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Emily and Teddy Greenspan, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, Mary and Daniel James, David Lloyd and Kimberly Steward, David Schwartz Foundation, Inc., Andy Song, Lenore and Richard Wayne, and The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Buddha Shakyamuni, Kandy period, 18th century, gilt copper alloy with partial black coating, 16 1/2 x 14 1/4 x 9 1/2 in., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Murray and Virginia Ward, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
- Dec 9, 2018–Jul 7, 2019
- Resnick Pavilion
This exhibition was organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
This project has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.
All exhibitions at LACMA are underwritten by the LACMA Exhibition Fund. Major annual support is provided by Kitzia and Richard Goodman and Meredith and David Kaplan, with generous annual funding from Jerry and Kathleen Grundhofer, the Judy and Bernard Briskin Family Foundation, Louise and Brad Edgerton, Edgerton Foundation, Emily and Teddy Greenspan, Marilyn B. and Calvin B. Gross, Mary and Daniel James, David Lloyd and Kimberly Steward, David Schwartz Foundation, Inc., Andy Song, Lenore and Richard Wayne, and The Kenneth T. and Eileen L. Norris Foundation.
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this exhibition do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Buddha Shakyamuni, Kandy period, 18th century, gilt copper alloy with partial black coating, 16 1/2 x 14 1/4 x 9 1/2 in., Los Angeles County Museum of Art, purchased with funds provided by Murray and Virginia Ward, photo © Museum Associates/LACMA
Media
Take a look inside the exhibition, on view at LACMA December 9, 2018 – June 23, 2019.
