Myth, meaning and mystery - art Across the Curriculum

Arts & Activities, Jan, 2003 by Tara Cady Sartorius

Death is certain. Life is not. We make tremendous efforts, ultimately in vain, to preserve our transient existence, but perhaps we should be preparing more carefully for the one thing we absolutely know will happen: death.

The Egyptians created their pyramids based on the concept of the afterlife. Their tombs and the things inside them were built to house their demi-god kings in a comfortable eternity. Over the centuries, every religion has put forth a theory about just what will happen when believers pass on to the other side.

In the 12th century, there was a Hindu king of Khmer culture (Suryavarman II) who ruled a part of Asia. His kingdom was centered on the holy city of Angkor, an area of about 100 square miles in the northwestern part of what is now Cambodia. He had a big temple built as, what most people agree, a kind of mausoleum where he might enjoy his afterlife. He dedicated the temple to Vishnu, the Hindu god of harmony and order, and had thousands of slaves over the course of 30-some years build one of the most impressive pieces of architecture ever created: the temple of Angkor Wat.

The walls of Angkor Wat are carved in bas-relief with vivid illustrations of Hindu legends and religious figures. On the walls of one room, the room most historians believe was the death chamber itself, are carved numerous apsarases. An apsaras (pronounced up'-sur-us) is a mythical celestial dancer who entertains the gods, and is said to be the sensual reward for kings and heroes who die bravely.

When Allan Clark (1896-1950) first saw an image of an apsaras, it was most likely during his Asian travels in 1926, when he visited Angkor Wat. (1) Clearly influenced by the imagery he saw there, he created the sculpture to your left. (2)

Clark's laminated mahogany sculpture, titled The King's Temptress, differs from the stone relief carvings on the walls of Angkor Wat in that it is fully three-dimensional. Furthermore, several elements of Clark's sculpture follow the conventions of the Art-Deco movement of the late 1920s: the Asian subject; the leaning, languid pose of the figure; the smooth diagonal line of her back; and the greatly-simplified, curvilinear details of her face.

Although Clark maintained some accuracy in the three-pointed headdress with its gold rosettes and feather patterning, he elongated the dancer's face and made her lips rather pouty, giving her a more Western appearance than in the apsarases of Angkor Wat. (3) The borrowing of exotic artistic imagery, particularly that of Asia, was a hallmark of the Art-Deco movement. Clark was sensitive to the popular styles of his day, especially because he created many of his works on commission.

Perhaps the biggest commission Clark received came in 1923 when, at age 27, he was asked to sculpt 21 figures--18 life-sized terra-cotta images of famous men, and three larger-than-life stone carvings of male muses symbolizing Mastery, Inspiration and Thought--to adorn the top of the new library of the University of Washington in Seattle.

In 1924, when this massive project was complete, Clark and his wife joined an expedition to Japan, Korea and Peking. In Japan he studied woodcarving and polychromy (coloring the surfaces--literally, "many colors"), a technique he used on The King's Temptress. Her body is green, her headdress is gold, her lips are red, her face is the color of natural mahogany, and the hair-like drapery around her left shoulder is a midnight indigo blue.

In 1925 Clark went with Langdon Warner as expedition artist for the second Fogg Museum Expedition to cave chapels in China. When that expedition ended, Clark continued his travels on his own, going to Cambodia, Thailand and Burma. He returned to the United States in 1927, the same year he created The King's Temptress, and had an exhibition of his work at the Fogg Museum, followed by one in New York and one at The Art Institute of Chicago.

In the late 1920s Clark found success with his Asian-influenced imagery. It is known that Clark created several versions of The King's Temptress. Whether this piece was originally carved in Asia or New York is not clear, but he did make at least two other wood versions and one polychrome plaster version. One version was purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (4) right out of the Fogg Museum exhibition in 1927. He very likely sought to capitalize on sales by producing copies of some of his more popular works, and The King's Temptress was certainly one.

The myth and origination of apsarases are far from certain, but they are among the most plentiful images carved on the walls of Angkor Wat.

They are associated with the elaborate story of The Churning of the Sea of Milk that is told in pictures on the east wall of the third gallery in Angkor Wat. The myth tells of a search for, and the ensuing complex process of creation of, an elixir of immortality.

Above the bas-relief carvings of the story are found apsarases, or sea nymphs. Some say apsarases were a purely Khmer artistic creation added on to the Hindu churning legend. Others say the apsarases were true ancient Hindu characters that emanated from the foam of the churning sea of milk, and that they emerged for the purpose of dancing and encouraging the gods in their churning.