In 1965, when journeying to Taiwan on a Fulbright Scholarship
to study traditional Chinese painting and the Imperial styles,
Kagle fell in love with the images from Buddhist hell which were
found in villages, temples and private homes. The color and violent
subject matter almost seemed contemporary. Therefore for aesthetic
reasons and reasons of pocketbook since the people's art was inexpensive
at that time, Kagle began to collect the work of artist/craftsmen.
From 1970 to 1976, as Chairman of the Art Department at the University
of Guam, Kagle journeyed repeatedly to Taiwan and in 1974 he met
Dr. Wolfram Eberhard of USC Berkley, who had written Guilt
and Sin in Traditional China. Eberhard directed Kagle to I-Lan,
on the eastern coast of Taiwan, where the last of the traditional
Hell painters still lived. Over a year's time of talking and planning,
a new set of old scrolls was created. From an exhibit of these
at the National Chinese Cultural College in Taipei, Kagle was
directed to other collectors of the hell scrolls which he collected.
The actual search for Buddhist hell and the hell scrolls can only
be described as a pleasant journey of discover. It was a journey
through many small villages, a shrine at Peitou, a Taoist temple
at Mucha and always moving in the circular realms of Buddhist
hell. Buddhist hell has been dedicated since the Sung Dynasty,
under Hwei-tsung (1101-1126). In the "Sutra of the
Sea of Triple Darkness leading to the vision of Buddha,"
hell is divided into 10 divisions with 18 sub-divisions, or 180
levels of hell. Each master painter of hell followed this sutra
but added his own character (as does any storyteller or artist
of worth). It is the small derivation of style which kept Kagle
collecting these marvelous folk images in the 1970s.
Buddhist Hell
by the Master of I-Lan
29" (77 1/2 cm) x 57" (144.7 cm)
Oil on canvas, mounted as 10 scrolls completed in 1975
Price: $7,500.00
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