The rubin museum of art: re-framing religion for aesthetic spirituality

Abstract

Opened in New York on October 2, 2004, the Rubin Museum of Art (RMA)'s mission is establish, present, preserve and document permanent collection that reflects the vitality, complexity and historical significance of Himalayan art.1 The seed for the RMA was planted in 1979 when the founders, Shelley and Donald Rubin, purchased their first thangka painting—an image of White Tara. The museum's location, at 150 West 17th Street, was identified in 1998, and the museum was founded in 1999, as 501(c) (3) not-for-profit trust. The RMA's collection of approximately 1,200 objects inc1udes paintings, sculptures, and textiles that reflect the major periods and schools of Himalayan art from the twelfth century onward and stretches from Afghanistan in the west to Burma in the east. Commenting on the scope of the Rubin collection, dealer Canton Rochell has described it as a nearly encyclopedic collection [containing] every subject, every mahasiddha, lama, bodhisattva, and-deity in every form you could imagine (Wallis 2005, 77).