If you think that Guernica of Picasso or The Fourth Stateor by Pellizza da Volpedo are large paintings, you have not yet seen the Great Buddha of the Century (世紀大佛)made by Taiwanese painter and calligraphy expert Hung Chi Sung. The painting, which saw its title formalized by none other than Guinness World Recordit’s big 12,086.59 m²to be precise 168 metres long and 72 metres wide – that is, wider than a regulation football pitch – and was completed in Hualien, TaiwanJune 21, 2019 on a fabric support.
The inspiration for this work comes from the destruction, in 2001, of the statue of Big Buddha of Bamiyan, Afghanistan, UNESCO site disintegrated by the Taliban: after this event, Hung Chi-Sung decided to try to promote reconciliation and peace through art, vowing to make a huge painting by himself that would forever keep the spirit of peace of the Buddha in this world. So he made a large work inspired by the Buddhas of the Gupta Empire: think that it took him a good 17 years to finish it all!
Although the painting was originally finished in May 2018, the artist later added a golden dot on the Buddha’s heart to symbolize the opening and connection of hearts around the world. Despite its great popularity at the time of its completion, to date we have been unable to find information on the status of this work, where it is kept and in what condition.
If you inquire elsewhere about what the largest painting in the world is, you might come across another monumental work of art, known as Ball Story or Story of the Ball (translated into Italian The history of the ball). This colossal painting, made by the Iranian painter Emad Salehi It has a surface area of 9,652 m², the dimensions of approximately 19 basketball courts: specifically, it concerns the largest canvas painting in the worldso a kind of sub-category. Maybe someone will remember this work from 2022 FIFA World Cup Dohasince the work had been commissioned by the Ministry of Culture of Qatar to be Football themed.
The huge painting, which seems to have remained in Qatar but of which there are no certain updates, depicts the historic moments of the previous editions of the FIFA World Cup: among the subjects there are the host countries, the winners and some of the best players of the past seasons. But not only that: the artist has also inserted several references to the Arab culture. This work was completed within a five monthswith more than 3,000 liters of paint and 150 brushes.
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