Mongol zurag ( mn, Mонгол зураг, ''Mongol painting'') is a style of painting in
Mongolian art. Developed in the early 20th century, zurag is characterised by the depiction of secular, nationalist themes in a traditional mineral-paint–on–cotton medium similar to Tibetan ''
thangka''. It is thus distinguished from both traditional
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
fine art and the
socialist realism favoured during the
Mongolian People's Republic
The Mongolian People's Republic ( mn, Бүгд Найрамдах Монгол Ард Улс, БНМАУ; , ''BNMAU''; ) was a socialist state which existed from 1924 to 1992, located in the historical region of Outer Mongolia in East Asia. It ...
.
The style was pioneered in the aftermath of the
1921 Revolution by artists such as
Balduugiin Sharav, whose ''One Day in Mongolia'' remains one of the most celebrated works of Mongolian art. Zurag paintings featuring scenes from everyday life, in both contemporary
collective farm
Collective farming and communal farming are various types of, "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member- ...
and traditional
pastoral nomadic settings, became popular in the 1950s and 1960s in the wake of the success of
Ürjingiin Yadamsüren's ''The Old Fiddler''. Historical depictions of the 1921 Revolution as well as earlier national figures were also popular, but overtly religious themes were discouraged by the state. Since the
establishment of democracy in 1992 there has been a resurgence of interest in the style. Recent zurag paintings have featured nationalistic scenes drawn from the ''
Secret History of the Mongols'' and the life of
Genghis Khan, as well overtly religious imagery inspired by pre-Buddhist
shamanism. They have also become more symbolic and less strictly representational.
Throughout its history zurag has encompassed a diverse range of visual styles. Flat, brightly coloured shading in the Buddhist tradition is used alongside European-style
realism and
geometric perspective
Linear or point-projection perspective (from la, perspicere 'to see through') is one of two types of graphical projection perspective in the graphic arts; the other is parallel projection. Linear perspective is an approximate representation, ...
. Some zurag artists co-opted older Buddhist iconographic conventions for purely secular topics.
Otgonbayar Ershuu is an important painter of our time, he was portrayed in the film "ZURAG" by Tobias Wulff.
[ZURAG – a movie about Otgonbayar Ershuu; Germany/Mongolia 2010; produced by Tobias Wulf]
(The movie was broadcast twice in the Mongolian State television in 2011)
/ref>
References
*
{{mongolia-stub
Mongolian art