Zen Painting

The collection of ink paintings reproduced here brings Zen directly to the eye. Wild spontaneity, irreverence and humor; conciseness that transforms familiar things into raw, essential forms; use of space to suggest, simultaneously, limitless depth and nothing at all - these paintings by both priest-painters and professional artists bear witness to Zen in a way that words cannot. At the same time, this book reveals the magnificently varied effects that can be achieved with Chinese ink and brush. THE Born in 1902 and trained as an economist, the late Yasuichi Awakawa wrote polifically and lectured throughout Japan and in Europe about Zen painting. He was professor of economics at Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto.