Yeshe Gyatso

CHINA, Tibet, Lhoka

Yeshe Gyatso was a Tibetan painter of Russian heritage. He lived during the time when the Russian region of Tibet flourished as the center for art. At a young age, his father taught him how to paint, and he was later admitted to Drepung Monastery in Lhasa where he studied Buddhist logic in addition to painting and mandala measurements. Because his work was much appreciated by the Dalai Lama, he was summoned to serve in Norbulingka Palace in Lhasa, where he assumed the position of chief painter in the Xueduibai Traditional Manual Art Center.
Aside from the murals at Norbulingka Palace, Yeshe Gyatso was also involved in the designs and paintings of the murals in the Thirteenth Dalai Lama Reliquary Shrine in the Red Palace of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, a project completed together with Tshering Dondrub. Also at the Potala Palace, he created the line drawn designs for the large thangkas of Amitayus Buddha and Vairocana Buddha.
In 1941, Yeshe Gyatso received an order from the local Lhasa government to establish the first art school in Tibet, and subsequently serve as both the director and an instructor. There, he nurtured and trained over 30 students, among whom were the accomplished artists Paljor Gyalpo, Tashi Tshering, Palzang Dondrub, Rigdzin Peljor, Kunsang Namgyel, and Sonam Dorje.