robert beer
home | robert - art | nico - blog | nico - photos

Robert Beer has studied and practised Tibetan Art & allied spiritual precepts for the last forty years. An early westerner to become actively involved in these art forms, he initially studied in India and Nepal. Since 1975 he has lived in England working consistently on developing the artistic skills, vision, patience and understanding of this highly complex subject, as well as the historical and cultural contexts within which it arises. For several years now, Robert has travelled to Nepal where the inheritors of the Tibetan Buddhist artistic traditions & skills have migrated since the Chinese hegemony in Tibet itself. He has brought both art & artists to the West & nurtured appreciation for & understanding of this continuing venerable artistic tradition. Robert Beer writes, studies, exhibits his own & other artists work, lectures & lives in Oxford, England with his partner, a cat & several hundred paintings. Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs Tibetan Buddhism has one of the most complex iconographies of any religion. Robert Beer, the artist who brought to life the saints of Tibetan Buddhism in Buddhist Masters of Enchantment, has now brought the myriad symbols of Tibetan Buddhist art to life. Not exactly arranged like an encyclopedia, this book is more like a tour of the categories of Tibetan Buddhist symbols, beginning with Landscape Elements (rocks, clouds, rainbows, etc.); moving on to such areas as Flowers and Trees, Cosmology, and Mudras (hand gestures); and ending with Geometric Borders. Exquisitely detailed line drawings (using fine-pointed traditional brushes) are grouped on full-size plates, each of which the author tells us took between 50 and 200 hours to draw. The eight years that went into this book are revealed not only in the drawings but also in the text that is equally detailed in its descriptions of the religious significance of the symbols as well as their sources and development in Tibetan art - amazon review. Handbook of Tibetan Buddhist Symbols A portal into the rich, multifaceted, and profound symbolism of Tibetan sacred art. Robert Beer provides a deep and encompassing insight into the vast array of symbols and attributes that appear within the complex iconography of Tibetan Buddhism. The succinct descriptions that accompany his detailed line drawings reveal the origins, meanings, and functions of these symbols. Beer unravels the multiple layers of symbolism and meaning contained within the iconography, affording the reader a panoramic vision into the deeper dimensions of this sacred art. Drawn largely from Beer's monumental work The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs, the meticulous brush drawings in this book depict all of the major Buddhist symbols and motifs, including the various groups of auspicious symbols; cosmological symbols; natural and mythical animals, such as the dragon, garuda, and makara; the entire assembly of ritual tantric implements and weapons; magical and wrathful symbols; handheld emblems, attributes, and plants; esoteric Vajrayana offerings; and mudras, or ritual hand gestures - amazon review.

home | robert - art | nico - blog | nico - photos

© 2009 nico morrison