The Isa Upanishad
India and its cultural traditions have long inspired Francesco Clemente. The Isa Upanishad is a suite of nineteen drawings based on the Isha Upanishad, one of the shortest Upanishads, a collection of texts written in Sanskrit between the eighth and sixth centuries that convey the central philosophical tenets of Hinduism. Clemente’s drawings are not literal illustrations of the Isha Upanishad, though he does quote from it directly. The text serves as a referent, from which Clemente freely evolved his series of eclectic images.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Isa Upanishad
- Artist: Francesco Clemente (Italian, born Naples, 1952)
- Date: 1995
- Medium: Pastel on nineteen sheets of paper
- Dimensions: 19 1/4 × 26 3/8 in. (48.9 × 67 cm)
- Classification: Drawings
- Credit Line: Bequest of William S. Lieberman, 2005
- Object Number: 2007.49.27a–s
- Rights and Reproduction: © Francesco Clemente
- Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art
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