Zen Buddhism and Abstract-Expressionist Paintings

8/13/2019 Zen Buddhism and Abstract-Expressionist Paintings.

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Zen and Abstract-Expressionist Painting

Kyle Schenken

California State University, Chico


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Preface

obert !other"ell,one of the #ost la$ded Abstract Expressionist painters of his ti#e,once

"rote that there "as an affinity bet"een #$ch of his "ork and certain %riental painting practices &'e

cited (apanese Zen painting as partic$larly infl$ential d$e to its red$ction of color,"ith the

predo#inance of black and "hite,as "ell as its e#phasis on gest$re&!other"ell felt that both Zen

painting and his "ork on his )%pen* series of paintings "ere concept$ally interested in the

#etaphysical void&+he void is "here the painting begins and its s$bect is that "hich )ani#ates* the

void,he said&'e #arveled at ho" little it took to ani#ate the void,giving an exa#ple of ho" an ants

presence on a path"ay co$ld ani#ate the "hole "orld aro$nd it&%riental art,he said,"o$ld event$ally

lead one to the discovery of the bea$ty of the void itself&

.n /estern art,!other"ell "rote,there is #$ch e#phasis on )positive* and )negative* space,

b$t little e#phasis on the concept of an absol$te void&01la#2 .t "as not $ntil his generation of painters

that this tendency shifted&+he e#phasis on the void is a perfect exa#ple of the kind of tho$ght that

differentiated the Abstract Expressionist painters fro# the rest of art history&

+he "ritten portion of this thesis "ill atte#pt to sho" ho" an e#phasis on the void and other

cr$cial Zen val$es can be fo$nd in the practice of the Abstract Expressionist painters and ho" Zen #ay

have played a direct role in the evol$tion of this genre&+he vis$al portion of the thesis "ill be #ade $p

of a gro$p of paintings created in the sa#e vein ,"ith Zen principles in #ind and in an abstract style &

/ith both of these co#ponents . hope to sho" ho" Zen once "as and yet re#ains a vital so$rce of

inspiration for creative "ork in painting&


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Zen and Abstract Expressionist Painting

Paintings first enco$nter "ith Zen 3$ddhist practice "as not a recent event&.t took a long ti#e

to #ake its "ay to the /est fro# its beginnings in the East&An early reference to Zen painting can be

fo$nd inPlatfrom Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch,co#posed bet"een the 4thand 56thcent$ry&0Schl$tter2

.n the text,the Chinese Chan 3$ddhist #aster,'$ineng co##issions so#e paintings the for the "alls

of his #onastery&3$t before the "alls can be painted,'$ineng br$shes a 3$ddhist verse on the "all&

+he next #orning,'$ineng sent the co##issioned artists a"ay,deciding that he preferred the black

"riting on the "hite "alls&'$inengs decision "as infl$enced by his re#e#brance of theDiamond

Sutra,"hich stated )All i#ages every"here are $nreal and false&*0Stevens2 +his senti#ent "o$ld be

echoed cent$ries later in the "ork of #any 78thcent$ry painters&

.n (apan,Zen #onks "o$ld carry on '$inengs black-on-"hite aesthetic in their o"n

#onochro#e paintings&+his style,"hich $ses br$shes dipped in black ink to paint ink "ashes on "hite

paper,is referred to as )s$#i-e&* +his art for# "as as #$ch abo$t process as it "as abo$t the res$lting

i#age&S$#i-e artists prepared their o"n ink by r$bbing an inkstick,or )s$#i,* on an inkstone&+his

allo"ed the artists to extract the necessary concentration of ink for the i#age&9$e to S$#i-es

fo$ndation in the Zen discipline,the artist #$st strive to re#ain connected to the present #o#ent

d$ring all steps,fro# the preparation of the ink to its application onto the paper&0S$#i-e2 Presence is a

key principle of Zen "hich "o$ld co#e to play an i#portant role in the paintings of the abstract-

expressionists of the t"entieth cent$ry&

S$#i-e "as one of the early expressionistic styles of painting: its goal "as not to faithf$lly

reprod$ce a s$bects physical appearance,b$t rather to express its nat$re or essence&Early Zen S$#i-e

paintings depicted i#portant spirit$al fig$res,s$ch as #onks and enlightened individ$als&;ater,the


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s$bect #atter expanded to incl$de plants,ani#als,and landscapes&0S$#i-e2 +he style of depiction in

s$#i-e allo"s the vie"er to easily discern the s$bect #atter&1or exa#ple,in a painting of #o$ntains

and ba#boo,the obects depicted can be


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painter,3arnett =e"#an,e#bodies non-d$alis# "ith his painting )%ne#ent,.* fro# 5>?4& .n this

painting,a bright and energetic band of cad#i$# red is painted vertically ,c$tting thro$gh the #iddle

of a plane of .ndian red&/hile the line physically divides the plane in half,=e"#an felt that it act$ally

$nified the t"o sides of the painting&+his idea that $nity and division co$ld be fo$nd in the sa#e place

has #ore in co##on "ith the Easts spirit$ally-based aesthetics than it does "ith the long tradition of

positive and negative space fo$nd in #ost /estern art $p to that point in ti#e&

.n fact,the aesthetic fo$nd in #$ch of the Abstract-Expressionists paintings,co$ld be #ore easily

defined by the (apanese philosophy of bea$ty referred to as )"abi-sabi&* +his aesthetic finds bea$ty in

i#perfection,in #odesty,in age,in i#per#anence,and in inco#pleteness&0;a"rence2 Unlike 'ard-

edge painting,the precedent genre of abstraction "hich "as concerned "ith deftly co#posed i#ages

b$ilt "ith caref$lly crafted lines and shapes,abstract-expressionis# allo"ed for i#perfection and

#odesty&+ho$gh his canvases "ere often very large,!ark othkos color-field paintings had a

#odesty of co#position&Using only a fe" rectang$lar planes of color "ith delicately feathered edges,

othko so$ght to convey the feelings of tragedy,decay,and death&othkos paintings,like "abi-sabi,

are abo$t the expression of large $niversal tr$ths thro$gh s$btleties&

!any of the Abstract-Expressionists shared #ore than $st a concept$al connection "ith the old

Zen painting practice& A pop$lar practice a#ong so#e of these artists "as to paint only in black and

"hite&obert !other"ell,for exa#ple,"orked on a series of paintings called )Elegy to the Spanish

ep$blic* "hich consisted pri#arily of black for#s on a "hite gro$nd&+hese paintings share so#e

rese#blance to the black-on-"hite aesthetics of s$#i-e and calligraphy&Perhaps the artist best kno"n

for his #asterf$l $se of black and "hite paint,is 1ran@ Kline&%f all the Abstract-Expressionists,it is

Kline "hose "ork is the #ost strikingly si#ilar to the Zen paintings&'is energetic black br$shstrokes

stand o$t against his "hite,#$ch like a the black ink of a calligrapher "o$ld stand o$t on a sheet of


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paper&Kline hi#self,ho"ever,has denied any link to oriental calligraphy,insisting that his vis$al

vocab$lary "as ele#ental,referring to recogni@able shapes&Kline stated,)+here are for#s that are

fig$rative to #e&. donBt have the feeling that so#ething has to be co#pletely non-associative as far

as fig$re for# is concerned&*0+he Collection2 9espite his denial of the link to oriental art,Klines

state#ent that the for#s are fig$rative provides an even better case for co#parison "ith early Zen

painting,as they often depicted abstracted fig$res&.n fact,his state#ent does not do #$ch to separate

hi#self fro# co#parison to calligraphy either,d$e to the fact that #any (apanese characters are

ideogra#s 0characters "hich physically look like the thing they are describing,for exa#ple if the

character for )tree* rese#bled a tree2&/hile his "ork #ay not dra" direct infl$ence fro# calligraphy,

the abstraction of for#s in his "ork are re#iniscent of the "ay calligraphic characters #ay have

originally been conceived& Adolph ottliebs "ork #irrors the history of calligraphy even closer than

Klines&.n his early Pictograph series,"e see gridded arrange#ents of sy#bols rese#bling the kind of

pict$res $sed by h$#ans for co##$nication pre-c$neifor#& .n his later 3$rst series,"hat is left of

these sy#bols has been abstracted even f$rther to rese#ble calligraphy&+he calligraphic for#s in these

i#ages are set beneath colorf$l s$n-like circles often on a "hite gro$nd&+hese s$n-shapes create an

i#age that is re#iniscent of the (apanese flag b$t also echo back to the Enso of the Zen painters&/hen

vie"ed thro$gh this lens,the 3$rst paintings are co#posed in a "ay that is strikingly si#ilar to the "ay

so#e Enso painters "ere designed,tho$gh ottliebs circles floated above his calligraphic #arks

"hereas the calligraphy and Enso in the @en paintings "ere often side-by-side&.f one "ere to t$rn a

3$rst painting on its side,it "o$ld be al#ost identical to a typical Enso&

+h$s far,the "orks of the Abstract-Expressionists and Zen painters have proven to be #ore or

less co#parable,b$t did Zen really inspire these artists directlyD Evidence s$ggests that Zen "as a

rather pop$lar topic for disc$ssion a#ong the Ab-Ex painters&.n 5>?>,a gro$p of =e" ork artists,


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pri#arily Abstract-Expressionists,established a #eeting space in a loft at 6> East Eighth Street "hich

they na#ed +he Cl$b&3et"een 5>?> and 5>FF,Zen "as disc$ssed #ore than any other topic&+he

artists pondered Zen in relation to psychology,#$sic,and,appropriately,art&Zen gave these artists a

vocab$lary "ith "hich to "ork o$t their ideas abo$t the self and ones relation to others&0'ellstein2

3oth direct and indirect evidence both lead to a concl$sion that Zen "as i#portant and

infl$ential to the "ork of #any Abstract-Expressionists&As one of the earliest for#s of expressionist

art,Zen S$#i-e painting opened $p the door for art that co$ld be #ore than $st realistic depictions of

obects&3oth Zen and Abstract-Expressionis# "ere concerned "ith the re#oval of artifice,instead

foc$sing the discovery of a deeper tr$th thro$gh disciplined practice &/hat res$lted fro# both practices

"as the vis$al expression of the the self and the $niverse,and the inextricable relationship bet"een the

t"o&


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Gis$al Co#parison of Zen Enso Painting and Adolph ottlieb 3$rst Painting

Enso,'ak$in Ekak$&c&5Hth

-54th

cent$ry&

Burst of the Blue Circle,Adolph ottlieb&5>IH 0otated >8J Clock"ise for Co#parison2


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/orks Cited

+'E C%;;EC+.%=&MoMA.org&=&p&,n&d&/eb&8I 9ec&7856&

1la#,(ack 9&4&Motherwell&=e" orkL i@@oli,5>>5&=&pag&Print&

'eart S$traL 1or# .s E#ptiness,E#ptiness .s 1or#&Heart Sutra: orm !s Em"tiness,Em"tiness !s

orm&=&p&,n&d&/eb&8I 9ec&7856&

'ellstein,Galerie&A#stract Ex"ressionism$s Counterculture: %he Clu#,the Cold &ar,and the 'ew

Sensi#ilit(.!o#a&org&P91&

;a"rence,obyn &/hat .s /abi-SabiD &hat !s &a#i)Sa#i*=&p&,n&d&/eb&8I 9ec&7856&

Schl$tter,!orten&)+rans#ission and Enlighten#ent in Chan 3$ddhis# Seen +hro$gh the Platfor#

S$tra&* Chung)Hwa Buddhist +ournal,no&78,pp&6H> M ?58&788H&

Stevens,(ohn&+he Appreciation of Zen Art&en"aintings.com&=&p&,n&d&/eb&8I 9ec&7856&

S$#i-e& -utsider +a"an&=&p&,n&d&/eb&8I 9ec&7856&

S"eet,3elinda&Zen Circles of .ll$#ination&en"aintings.com&=&p&,n&d&/eb&8I 9ec&7856&

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Zen Buddhism and Abstract-Expressionist Paintings