View source for Gankhüügiin Pürevbat

{{Short description|Mongolian painter and art collector (1965–2024)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
'''Gankhüügiin Pürevbat''' ({{langx|mn|Ганхүүгийн Пүрэвбат}}; 06 September 1965 – 10 April 2024) was a Mongolian painter, art collector, museum director and Buddhist teacher in the [[Vajrayana]] School. [[Lama|Lam]] Pürevbat was the founder of the [[Zanabazar]] Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art. He was born in 1965 in [[Bornuur]] in the [[Töv Province]].<ref name="PCP2008P">Prince Claus Fund (2008) [http://www.princeclausfund.org/en/network/user/id/108 biography]{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

== Biography ==
Pürevbat studied traditional Mongolian art at the National Art and Culture College in [[Ulaanbaatar]]. When he realized that the history of traditional [[thangka]] paintings originates in [[Tibetan Buddhism]], he decided to become a Buddhist monk. Then he found two Mongolian connoisseurs of arts, the [[Damjiang]] Lama and the [[Dorje Zanchung]] Lama, who introduced him into this tradition.<ref name="SueB10-2000">Byrne, Sue (October 2000) [http://www.tibet-foundation.org/pdf/nl30.pdf ''The Great Artistic Heritage of Mongolia]{{Dead link|date=December 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>  In order to deepen his skills, he went for a study tour to Sanggye Yeshe, the official thangka painter of the [[Fourteenth Dalai Lama]], and [[Geshe]] Samten, a master in the making of [[mandala]]s. In this time he traveled extensively through the [[Himalayas]], where he met great Tibetan masters in [[Nepal]], [[Bhutan]] and [[Sikkim]]. During his tour he collected source material and he  acquainted himself intensively in Tibetan Buddhist [[iconography]] and [[econometrics]]. In fact, he followed the same tradition as one great Mongol artist and Buddhist clergyman had done so several centuries earlier, and to who bears now the name of his institute, to know [[Zanabazar]].<ref name="PCP2008P" /><ref name="SueB10-2000" />  Artistically, Pürevbat was known for his conformity and his perseverance to essential authentic rules. Next to that, he was a great renewer as well, who has added modern disciplines and practices to his creations. His style, therefore, has been called dynamic and distinctive.<ref name="PCP2008P" />

Around 2008 Pürevbat worked on a publication of 23 volumes about art history and techniques. His work overall has led to a revival of activities and the spreading of art and culture in Mongolia.<ref name="PCP2008P" />

Pürevbat died on 10 April 2024, at the age of 59.<ref>[https://livetv.mn/p/298818 Бурханч лам Г.Пүрэвбат жанч халжээ] {{in lang|mn}}</ref>

== Zanabazar Mongolian Institute ==
The Zanabazar Mongolian Institute of Buddhist Art is a part of the [[Gandantegchinlen Monastery]] in [[Ulaanbaatar]]. The monastery was destroyed in 1937 by the [[Mongolian People's Party#Armed uprising and purges|communists]], as happened to around 1,000 other monasteries in that era as well. Pürevbat decided that the monastery had to be rebuilt again, in which he succeeded in the course of years with the help of his disciples.<ref name="Gonschior2004">Gonschior, Thomas (2004) [https://archive.org/details/Buddhas_Maler_D_2004 ''Buddha's Painter, A Renaissance of Mongolian Art''], online film on Pürevbat and his disciples</ref>

With the Zanabazar Mongolian Institute Pürevbat regularly organized exhibitions on [[painting]], [[sculpture]], [[appliqué]], [[architecture]] and [[dance]]. He also founded a school to educate artists and art teachers to educate in these professions. Furthermore, the institute documents historic places of discoveries, organizes restorations and reintroduces festivals that had vanished as a result of the 20th-century Mongolian regime's policies.<ref name="PCP2008P" />

== Acknowledgement ==
In 2004 Thomas Gonschior made a 55-minute [[documentary film]] on Pürevbat and his disciples, called ''Buddha's Painter, A Renaissance of Mongolian Art''. The documentary film was first shown at the Globians Film Festival in [[Berlin]] in 2005.<ref name="Gonschior2004" />

In 2008 Pürevbat was honored with a [[Prince Claus Awards|Prince Claus Award]] from the [[Netherlands]], within the theme ''Culture and the human body''. The jury rewarded him for "the rigorous authenticity of his methods and techniques, for re-establishing an important ‘un-modern’ aesthetic practice, for his dedication and generosity in fostering future generations, and for nurturing local identity through artistic tradition and culture."<ref name="PCP2008P" />

== References ==
<References />

== External links ==
*Purevbat.de, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090722183234/http://purevbat.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22%3Apurevbatkim&catid=29%3Apurevbat&Itemid=67 ''Lam Purevbat - A Mongolian spiritual teacher, cultural leader, and master artist'']

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purevbat, Gankhuugiin}}
[[Category:1965 births]]
[[Category:2024 deaths]]
[[Category:Mongolian painters]]
[[Category:Tibetan Buddhists from Mongolia]]
[[Category:Buddhist spiritual teachers]]
[[Category:Museum directors]]
[[Category:People from Töv Province]]
[[Category:20th-century Mongolian painters]]
[[Category:21st-century Mongolian painters]]