Zen, the practice of seeking and achieving enlightenment, is embodied in art forms as diverse as sand gardens and tea ceremonies.
Readers interested in related titles from Stephen Addiss will also want to see: How to Look At Japanese Art (ISBN: 162654283X )..
These marvelous visual expressions of self-knowledge and enlightenment will delight readers, and perhaps even inspire some to deepen their own spiritual practices.
He also explains the various styles of the fascinating monk-artists, with enriching commentary on their techniques and innovations.
Addiss insightfully describes the history of Japanese Zen art and culture, and includes translations of Zen prose and poems.
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The book also provides a comprehensive introduction to the major Zenga artists, offering extensive, engaging biographies of these awakened monks.
Many of the pieces, gathered from Japanese temples, have never been widely seen before.
With this stunning collection of Zenga masterpieces from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries, prolific author and Professor of Art, Emeritus, at the University of Richmond, Stephen Addiss showcases centuries of great works of Zen Calligraphy and painting.
As practiced by Zen masters, who were expert in Calligraphy but not professional artists, the subject matter was often simple, suggestive, and abstract, though sometimes the artists depicted humorous portraits of Zen masters and their followers.
The result was a visual expression of Zen called Zenga (literally Zen picture), the purest possible communication of Zen principles, and often used as an aid in meditation.
Especially after 1600, more and more Japanese Zen masters began depicting their individual paths to enlightenment with bold, inked brushstrokes of images and Calligraphy of Zen subjects and sayings.
However, the attempt to artistically express the inexpressible finds one of its clearest manifestations in painting.
Zen, the practice of seeking and achieving enlightenment, is embodied in art forms as diverse as sand gardens and tea ceremonies
