The Artist Project: Thomas Struth

Photographer Thomas Struth reflects on Chinese Buddhist sculpture in this episode of The Artist Project.
From March 2015 to June 2016, we invited 120 artists—local, national, and global—to choose individual works of art or galleries that sparked their imaginations. In this online series, artists reflect on what art is, what inspires them from across 5,000 years of art, and in so doing, they reveal the power of a museum and The Met.

"It seems to be much easier to identify with this moment of stillness than with Jesus on the cross."

Photographer Thomas Struth reflects on Chinese Buddhist sculpture in this episode of The Artist Project—an online series in which artists respond to works of art in The Met collection.

About the Artist
Thomas Struth, born in 1954, is a German photographer.

A large-scale color photograph by Thomas Struth of four art restorers posing in a large room full of religious artworks

Thomas Struth (German, born Geldern, 1954)

The Restorers at San Lorenzo Maggiore, Naples, 1988

Chromogenic print; image: 46 7/8 × 62 7/8 in. (119.1 × 159.7 cm), frame: 48 × 63 in. (121.9 × 160 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Vital Projects Fund Inc. Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel; Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts; Jennifer Saul Gift; Gift of Dr. Mortimer D. Sackler, Theresa Sackler and Family; and Gary and Sarah Wolkowitz Gift, 2010 (2010.121) © Thomas Struth


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Bodhisattva, Wood (foxglove) with traces of pigment and gilding; single woodblock construction, China
China
11th–12th century
Buddha, probably Amitabha
, Dry lacquer with polychrome pigment and gilding, China
China
early 7th century
Bodhisattva Manjushri (Wenshu), Wood (foxglove) with traces of pigment; single woodblock construction, China
China
late 10th–early 12th century
Attendant Bodhisattva, Wood (foxglove) with traces of  pigment; single-woodblock construction, China
China
10th–11th century
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in Water Moon Form (Shuiyue Guanyin)

, Wood (willow) with gesso and traces of pigment; single woodblock construction, China
China
dated 1385
Attendant Bodhisattva, Wood (willow) with gesso and pigment; single woodblock construction, China
China
10th–11th century
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara in Water Moon Form (Shuiyue Guanyin), Wood (willow) with traces of pigment; multiple-woodblock construction, China
China
11th century
Pilgrim Sudhana (Shancai tongzi), Wood (linden) with pigment; single woodblock construction, China
China
late 15th–early 17th century
Buddha Maitreya (Mile), Gilt bronze with traces of pigment; piece-mold cast, China
China
dated 486 (10th year of Taihe reign)
Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara of the Lion's Roar, or Simhanada Avalokiteshvara (Shi Hou Guanyin), Wood (poplar) with pigment; single-woodblock construction, China
China
late 15th–early 17th century