Spencer Museum of Art The University of Kansas
detail: Shakyamuni undergoing austerities by Kano Kazunobu

Compassionate Beings: Japanese Buddhist Art

September 29, 2009 – January 3, 2010 | Asia Gallery I

Drawn from the Spencer’s permanent collection, this exhibition explores the diverse pantheon of deities loosely associated with the trait of compassion in Japanese Buddhist painting and sculpture. From Kannon, commonly known as the “bodhisattva of compassion,” to the Amida Buddha, who is believed to descend at the time of death and deliver the faithful to the Western Paradise, this rich assemblage encompasses devotional art made in the 13th century to more recent paintings by Zen masters completed in the Edo period (1600-1868).