Lovers

L. T. P. Manjusri Sri Lankan

Not on view

The lovers, arms entwined, are seen bound together by a transparent embroidered shawl which wraps the woman and man together in a tender embrace. The artist has skillfully exploited the translucency of the watercolor medium to full effect. Signature motifs, such as the sacred goose—the Buddha’s messenger, the hamsa—seemingly embroidered in the shawl’s border design, reference both Sinhalese culture and Buddhism, the two strands central to Manjusri’s life, as both a monk and a householder artist.

Lovers, L. T. P. Manjusri (Sri Lankan, 1902–1982), Watercolor on paper, Sinhala

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