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Japan Showa (1926 - 1989) paint on paper H: 26.4 cm L: 23.4 cm |
Detail: Portrait of the artist In 1907, Nakagawa Soen was born the eldest of three sons to a Samurai family near Hiroshima. His father was an army physician who died when Soen was just twelve years old. From an early age, Soen exhibited an interest in poetry and spirituality. He studied literature at Tokyo University, graduating in 1930. He then pursued Zen training, receiving the dharma transmission form Yamamoto Gempo (1866-1961), and succeeded Gempo as Zen master of Ryutaku-ji in Mishima. In 1948 he travelled to the United States seeking to join Eastern and Western philosophies. He spent the next thirty years travelling between Japan and the West, spreading knowledge of Zen with humour and unconventional methods, such as leading students out of the meditation hall to dance together beneath the moon, or installing a pumpkin in the Abbot's seat, conducting "tea ceremonies" with instant coffee and Styrofoam cups, cracking jokes during his Zen talks. In a more serious side, Soen has been deemed an excellent poet and accomplished calligrapher. Calligraphy: Dance (mai) Sealed by the artist Reference: Cf. Endless Vow. The Zen Path of Soen Nakagawa, introduction by Eido Tai Shimano, compiled and translated by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Roko Sherry Chayat, Boston and London (Shambhala) 1996. Cf. (Biography) Seo, Yoshiko: Enso. Zen Circles of Enlightenment, Boston and London 2007, p.149f. Condition: Mounting (Hyogu) 94 x 26.5 cm Detail: Painting with mounting |
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