Art of Twentieth-Century Zen

Art of Twentieth-Century Zen

paintings and calligraphy by Japanese masters

by Audrey Yoshiko Seo

1998

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For centuries, many Zen Masters have also been artists: brush painters and calligraphers who created art-works as a form of "visual Dharma" to express Zen insights in a powerful, direct way. This tradition of Zen arts has long been acknowledged as a priceless legacy of Japanese culture. The Art of Twentieth-Century Zen demonstrates how the great Japanese Zen Masters of this century have reaffirmed Zen as a vital, living experience through their personal, dramatic, and often humorous brushwork. This record of their achievements brings together great masterpieces of calligraphy and painting, many of which are in Japanese temples or in private collections and have rarely been viewed by Westerners.

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  1. 1

    How does viewing calligraphy and brush painting as a "visual Dharma" change the way you traditionally define and experience "art"?

  2. 2

    In what ways do the personal, dramatic, and sometimes humorous brushworks of these 20th-century Zen Masters challenge your preconceived notions of what a spiritual leader or master should be?

  3. 3

    How does the concept of art as a direct expression of lived experience translate into your own daily life and work?

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