Mongol zurag ( mn, Mонгол зураг, ''Mongol painting'') is a style of painting in

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...

n 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 A ''thangka'', variously spelled as ''thangka'', ''tangka'', ''thanka'', or ''tanka'' (; Tibetan: ཐང་ཀ་; Nepal Bhasa: पौभा), is a Tibetan Buddhist painting on cotton, silk appliqué, usually depicting a Buddhist deity, scene, ...

''. 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 ...

fine art and the

socialist realism Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

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 w ...

. 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 ''The Secret History of the Mongols'' (Middle Mongol: ''Mongɣol‑un niɣuca tobciyan''; Traditional Mongolian: , Khalkha Mongolian: , ; ) is the oldest surviving literary work in the Mongolian language. It was written for the Mongol royal fam ...

'' and the life of

Genghis Khan ''Chinggis Khaan'' ͡ʃʰiŋɡɪs xaːŋbr />Mongol script: ''Chinggis Qa(gh)an/ Chinggis Khagan'' , birth_name = Temüjin , successor = Tolui (as regent)Ögedei Khan , spouse = , issue = , house = Borjigin , ...

, as well overtly religious imagery inspired by pre-Buddhist

shamanism Shamanism is a religious practice that involves a practitioner (shaman) interacting with what they believe to be a Spirit world (Spiritualism), spirit world through Altered state of consciousness, altered states of consciousness, such as tranc ...

. 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 Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...

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