Buddha
Museum is the creation of John Chui, a native of China whose dedication to Buddhist
art began during childhood visits to the Temple of the Six Banyan Trees in Guangchou,
where three magnificent monumental Buddhas weighing ten tons each sit twenty feet
tall, surrounded by a thousand Buddha statues rising to the high ceiling, gilded
surfaces gleaming in the perfumed dusty light of the ancient shrine. This powerful
vision remained with the boy who would soon leave his home to travel alone to
the United States. Following his vocation as an artist, Chui aspired to transmit
the stories of Chinese legends and Buddhist history. As he researched sources
of Buddhist art, he began to establish connections with scholars, dealers and
agents around the world. Serendipity led to a rather large collection, and in
2000 Chui began offering his Buddha statues online.
Currently
there are more than five hundred Buddhist statues in the inventory of Buddha Museum
in bronze, stone and wood. All are older works which have served in Buddhist practice,
meditation and ritual, and bear the richness of age and the legacy of worship
which distinguish them from contemporary copies. These old Buddhas, ripened by
prayers and patinas, offer authenticity and possess a power and beauty that is
enhanced by time.
It is the mission of Buddha Museum to unearth, identify and evaluate old
Buddhist statues for their artistry and authenticity, and for the energies they
possess, gathered from the prayers of Buddhist practitioners over long years of
devotion.
