Unknown Ganesha, 13th century Cambodian. (The J. Paul Getty Trust )
In numerical terms, "Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia" — opening Feb. 22 at the J. Paul Getty Museum — is a small exhibition. It consists of a mere 26 sculptural objects, about 4 inches to 40 inches tall, displayed in a single gallery.
But the cultural significance of the show is beyond measure. The selection of Hindu and Buddhist statuary and ritual objects includes some of the finest examples of historical Cambodian bronze work at the nation's primary art museum in Phnom Penh.
Elegantly refined and intricately detailed, the sculptures include a 10th-century likeness of Maitreya, a Buddha-to-be with eight arms, a lustrous patina and eyes of silver foil and black stone. A triad of figures made in the late 12th or early 13th century features a Buddha seated on a serpent coiled into a chair, with human embodiments of compassion and wisdom at his sides.
The animal kingdom also has a strong presence. A statue of Ganesha depicts the elephant-headed son of the Hindu god Shiva decked out in elaborately ornamented attire but posed in a meditative state with his arms raised. A sleek sculpture of Shiva's bull, Nandin, portrays the beast at rest, legs folded alongside his powerful body.
"The sensuousness and beauty of this material, the great range of color and texture, was really a surprise to me," says Louise Allison Cort, a ceramics specialist at the Arthur M. Sackler and Freer Galleries in Washington, D.C., who has done extensive research in Cambodia. She co-organized the Sackler's inaugural version of the show with Paul Jett, the galleries' head of conservation. The Los Angeles presentation, pared from 36 to 26 objects, was coordinated by Getty curator Jeffrey Weaver, in collaboration with the museum's former director, Michael Brand.
"I think the high point is the 10th, 11th and 12th century pieces," Cort says. "There is such a wonderful sense of skin and bones and muscle represented, a kind of warmth in the material that I had never felt before I started working with these bronzes."
Meant to be viewed in the round, the sculptures are often as intriguing from the back as in the front. As Weaver points out, a garment wrapped around the hips of a late 11th century or early 12th century statue of Vishnu, the Hindu god of stability, is tied in the rear in a fashionable butterfly shape.
The museum that is home to the artworks is a miracle of perseverance and regeneration. Designed as a central repository for the storage, protection and display of Cambodia's artistic heritage, it opened under French patronage in 1920. The Cambodian government took charge of the museum in 1966. A few years later, when civil war broke out, the Phnom Penh institution also became a refuge for treasures from the provinces. Then came the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror, in 1975. The once-proud National Museum of Cambodia was abandoned and its staff dismissed.
It could have been worse. As danger approached, the collection was packed into underground storage and the building shut tight with its doors sandbagged. Against all odds, most of the artworks survived intact and the museum reopened a few months after the liberation of Phnom Penh in 1979. But reassembling and conserving the artworks was a daunting challenge. The building needed help too. Among other problems, a colony of bats that had settled into the roof had to be removed to protect the art, staff and visitors from falling guano.
But a new day has long since dawned at the museum — a picturesque architectural hybrid with traditional Khmer elements applied to a French colonial structure. Examples of the 17,600-piece collection of archeological and ethnographic objects are displayed in galleries surrounding a central courtyard.
"We are planning a celebration of the museum's 100th birthday," says its director, Oun Phalline, during a recent visit to the Getty. A 32-year veteran of the Cambodian museum, she began her career there as a guide and moved into the top position last year. She now presides over an institution with a staff that has grown from 20 to 120 — a cultural jewel of Southeast Asia that attracts 90,000 visitors a year.
Cambodia's major tourist center is Siem Reap, a town about 200 miles north of Phnom Penh, which serves as a base for visiting Angkor Wat and many other ancient temples and archeological sites. But thousands of tourists also seek out the museum. "After people see the temples, they want to see the art," Phalline says.
