Sengai: Master Zen Painter

Rating:
Summary: Sengai, Master Zen Painter
Review: This book has four main chapters for reading.

The first chapter is a very detailed and well-written biography of Sengai.

The second chapter, Humor in Zen, is an exceedingly important chapter because many modern Japanese artists simply leave out this aspect or seem to be unaware of it. It is very strongly recommended that anyone seriously interested in Zen and Zen art should know about humor in Zen, and here, there is a detailed and in-depth explanation of Zen humor through Zen philosophy and this is well-illustrated by Sengai's masterly drawings and poems.

The third chaper relates Sengai's art to Enlightenment, and the greatest treat in this chapter is a write-up on the famous Zen painting with a circle, square and triangle which is open to infinite interpretations, though here the writer suggests possible Zen readings into it, such as representing the elements water, fire, and earth, or symbolising three revered Buddhas.

The fourth chapter concerns itself mainly with Zen philosophy.

Besides the chapters for reading, there is a wealth of 74 plates in excellent print that show Sengai's sublime handling of the ink and brush, each with a useful short write-up or description on the painting as well as what the poem in the painting says. Among these are famous works like 'Self Portrait' (plate 18), 'The Meditating Frog' (Plate 34) and 'Tea-Bowl Box' (plate 71).

The appendices are very useful too, even for serious scholars.

Being someone interested in Zen and aesthetics, I strongly recommend this as a most essential collection to anyone who is interested in Zen philosophy or Zen art. As a practising artist myself, I think Sengai is in every aspect a sublime Zen master, and this is evident in this selection of his works.