“The Art Institute of Chicago’s stone sculpture of the Bodhisattva Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future, dates to the Tang dynasty (618–907) and is among the finest and rarest Asian stone sculptures in any American museum. Unfortunately, the left forearm of the statue is damaged, and we have no certain record of its original form. We are reimagining this important Buddhist sculpture with the missing forearm and hand restored — not only to recover the artistic excellence and original intention of its maker, but also to allow today’s audience to experience fully and be moved by the beauty and deep spirituality of this iconic masterpiece.”

– Tao Wang, Pritzker Chair, Arts of Asia, and Curator of Chinese Art, Executive Director, Initiatives in Asia, Art Institute of Chicago.

In reimagining the Bodhisattva Maitreya, every aspect of this project was guided by fidelity to the ancient masterwork and a deep reverence for its beauty and spiritual presence. The goal was to capture the magnificent power of a figure venerated across thirteen centuries.

The process began with an extensive study of the eighth-century sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. Scholarly and curatorial insights informed the development of detailed digital models, which allowed for the exploration of various positions for the missing forearm with extraordinary precision. From these explorations, two compelling interpretations were selected to be realized in stone. Studies A and B were sculpted using robotic technology at the Ten X studio in Italy and completed in white Carrara marble at the same scale as the historical Bodhisattva. These full-scale studies were presented at Asia Society Hong Kong in 2025, generating new discourse about the work and its legacy.

Now, two half-scale sculptures of Bodhisattva Reimagined, carved in pink marble, are exhibited in Gallery 109 — the Tadao Ando gallery — at the Art Institute of Chicago. The exhibition is accompanied by a full account of the project’s scholarly foundations and artistic vision. The final full-scale Bodhisattva Reimagined will be presented at the Art Institute of Chicago in dialogue with the Tang dynasty Bodhisattva, and will become part of the museum’s permanent collection.