Black Buddha Mandala

Date1944

Maker Morris Graves American, born Fox Valley, Oregon, 1910; died Loleta, California, 2001

Label TextAt a time when Graves was deep into the study of Hindu philosophy, the Black Buddha Mandala appeared to him in a dream. He recorded that he saw two concentric circles of light against a sepia-dappled, slate-like ground. Within this luminous mandala appeared four smaller circles, one after another, which contained different stages of a plant bud as it progressed toward flowering. Finally a voice addressed itself to Graves with the words, “You see the eternal laws are working.” Then another mandala appeared at the center, and it contained the image of a seated black Buddha. Graves recorded the vision in his painting, but afterward considered the image of the Buddha too personal to display, so he covered it with a circle of rice paper.

Object number2009.52.99

Photo CreditPhoto: Elizabeth Mann

Exhibition HistoryOsaka, Japan, National Museum of Art, Pacific Northwest Artists and Japan, Oct. 2 - Nov. 11, 1982. Washington, D.C., The Phillips Collection, Morris Graves: Vision of the Inner Eye, Apr. 9 - Aug. 23, 1983. Seattle, Seattle Art Museum, Morris Graves and Seattle, Nov. 1, 2001 - Oct. 20, 2002. No catalogue. New York, New York, Tibor de Nagy Gallery, Morris Graves: Symbols & Reality, Nov. 13, 2003 - Jan. 3, 2004. Published ReferencesSivanesan, Haema. In the Present Moment: Buddhim, Contemporary Art, and Social Practice. Exh. Cat. Victoria: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 2022; p. 101, reproduced fig. 77 [not in exhibition].

Credit LineGift of the Marshall and Helen Hatch Collection, in honor of the 75th Anniversary of the Seattle Art Museum

Dimensions27 3/8 x 26 3/4 in. (69.5 x 67.9 cm) Frame: 34 1/8 x 33 1/4 x 2 in. (86.7 x 84.5 x 5.1 cm)

MediumTempera wih collage on paper mounted on canvas