page_title: Sculpture of Mongolia
section_title: Modernism and traditions
hierarchical_section_title: Sculpture of Mongolia / Modernism and traditions
caption_attribution_description: English: Purge Victims Memorial Monument, in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. Honoring the victims of the Stalinist Soviet purges of Mongolian citizens and Buddhist monastics in the 1930s, during the People's Republic of Mongolia era. Part of Stalin's Great Purge, the number of individuals killed is usually estimated to have been between 22,000 and 35,000 people, with some estimates up to 100,000 victims. 18,000 victims were Buddhist lamas. Монгол: Хэлмэгдэгсдийн хөшөө Русский: Репрессии в МНР
context_page_description: Works of sculpture have been crafted in Mongolia since prehistoric times. Bronze Age megaliths known as deer stones depicted deer in an ornamented setting. Statues of warriors, the Kurgan stelae, were created under Turkic rule from the 6th century CE, and later started to bear inscriptions in a phonetic script, the Orkhon script, which were deciphered only in the 1980s. Warrior statues continued under the Uighurs, who also made a gold image of the Buddha. Many examples of sculptures of people and animals, as well as carved stelae, are known from the Mongol Empire, especially from its capital Karakorum.
  The spread of Buddhism in Mongolia from the 16th century was associated with a cultural revival which included the work of the sculptor Zanabazar, famous for his human forms in bronze depicting figures from the Buddhist tradition. Also known from this period are the ornate masks used in the mystic Cham dances.
  A sharp change in Mongolian art followed the revolution of 1921, after which the country remained under strong Soviet influence. Buddhism lost its hold, and much sculpture in public places adopted the Socialist realist style.
context_section_description: . In the 1960s, Mongolian artists began to study in countries such as East Germany and Czechoslovakia where they picked up Modernist art styles. These artists broadened the range of Mongolian artistic expression and adopted a greater degree of individualism. Although discouraged by the socialist government, Mongolian artists created increasingly free and emotional compositions. By the 1980s, greater numbers of artists returned from study in Europe and modernism was flourishing in Mongolia. The Democratic Revolution of 1990 opened Mongolia to the world and artists were completely free to paint any subject and travel to any country abroad. New artist groups were formed committed to modern and contemporary art in reaction to the dominance of Realism over the past decades. Previously taboo topics, such as the Mongol leader Genghis Khan, and abstract art styles were explored with passion.
  At the same time, a revival of traditional art styles arose. Monk-artist Lam Ganchugiyn Purevbat is famous with his Modernist tankas and 3-dimensional mandalas.
caption: Monument to the victims of the political purges
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