Cho Tashi

CHINA, Tibet

Cho Tashi was a Tibetan monk and artist who was active during the early 18th century. He was one of the great masters of the Drukpa Kagyu school. He also inherited the painting style of the Karma Gadri School from its founder, Namkha Tashi. Together with Namkha Tashi and Karsho Karma Tashi, they were known as the Three Tashi of Karma Gadri school, among whom he was regarded to be the second most prominent. As a result of his use of the style, Karma Gadri was brought to eastern Tibet.
In the tradition of Karma Gadri, he added variations of green tones to his paintings. He produced, with diligence, numerous murals and thangkas, most of which were preserved in Ganden Puntsog Ling Monastery. Among his thangkas, there were many which were painted as sets; these included the 48 thangkas that featured the lineage of the Kagyu school as designed by the Third Thangdrup Rinpoche of the Drukpa Kagyu school, 15 thangkas depicting the biography of Pema Karpo, and the life events of the Third Thangdrup Rinpoche as portrayed on nine thangkas.