Zen and Abstract-Expressionist Painting Kyle Schenken California State University, Chico

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$b,ect is that "hich )ani#ates* the void, he said& 'e #arveled at ho" little it took to ani#ate the void, giving an exa#ple of ho" an ant-s presence on a path"ay co$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&

Zen and Abstract Expressionist Painting

Painting-s 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$nd in Platfrom Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch, co#posed bet"een the 4th and 56th cent$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& '$ineng-s decision "as infl$enced by his re#e#brance of the Diamond Sutra, "hich stated )All i#ages every"here are $nreal and false&*0Stevens2 +his senti#ent "o$ld be echoed cent$ries later in the "ork of #any 78th cent$ry painters& .n (apan, Zen #onks "o$ld carry on '$ineng-s 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-e-s 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$ld co#e to play an i#portant role in the paintings of the abstractexpressionists of the t"entieth cent$ry& S$#i-e "as one of the early expressionistic styles of painting: its goal "as not to faithf$lly reprod$ce a s$b,ect-s 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

s$b,ect #atter expanded to incl$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$b,ect #atter& 1or exa#ple, in a painting of #o$ntains and ba#boo, the ob,ects depicted can be <$ickly disting$ished as #o$ntains and ba#boo, b$t the expressiveness of the ink lines grants an energy to each s$b,ect that goes beyond their physical representation& +he goal is to e#$late the feeling of being in the #o$ntains or in the presence of ba#boo, rather than to replicate the physical appearance of s$ch things& +his tendency to"ards the $se of energetic line as a "ay to capt$re the feeling of a s$b,ect is echoed in all later periods of representational painting that are labeled expressionistic& .n later Zen painting, ho"ever, representation of physical ob,ects is no longer dee#ed essential& +he line <$ality of painting is considered eno$gh to capt$re the essence of both the #o#ent and the painter& +his change in Zen painting is exe#plified best by the practice of painting the )Enso&* +he Enso is essentially a circle, painted in black ink on "hite paper, $sing one fl$id br$shstroke& +hese painted circles are typically acco#panied by a short calligraphic text that conveys so#e spirit$al #essage& /hile the Enso itself can be read sy#bolically, its physical appearance is tho$ght to be a reflection of the spirit$al <$ality of the #onk "ho painted it&0S"eet2 +he Action Painting branch of Abstract-Expressionis#, "hich incl$ded s$ch reno"ned fig$res as (ackson Pollock and /ille# de Kooning, "o$ld later carry on this tradition of physically recording one-s o"n presence and spirit$ality thro$gh the application of a #edi$# onto a s$rface& Enso painting paralleled Abstract-Expressionis#-s concept$al side as "ell& +o the Zen #onks, the circle represented non-d$ality, an idea that originates fro# the 'eart S$tra, "hich proclai#ed that )1or# is E#ptiness and E#ptiness is 1or#&* 0'eart S$tra2 +he Enso is a for# that contains e#ptiness& 3oth for# and e#ptiness are present at once& +his idea of non-d$ality is echoed in the "ork of the Color-1ield painters, "ho "ere kno"n to fill their canvases "ith large expanses of color& %ne s$ch

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$nd in the sa#e place has #ore in co##on "ith the East-s spirit$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 #$ch of the Abstract-Expressionist-s paintings, co$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 'ardedge 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$gh his canvases "ere often very large, !ark othko-s color-field paintings had a #odesty of co#position& Using only a fe" rectang$lar planes of color "ith delicately feathered edges, othko so$ght to convey the feelings of tragedy, decay, and death& othko-s paintings, like "abi-sabi, are abo$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

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$rative to #eA& . donBt have the feeling that so#ething has to be co#pletely non-associative as far as fig$re for# is concerned&*0+he Collection2 9espite his denial of the link to oriental art, Kline-s 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$ence fro# calligraphy, the abstraction of for#s in his "ork are re#iniscent of the "ay calligraphic characters #ay have originally been conceived& Adolph Cottlieb-s "ork #irrors the history of calligraphy even closer than Kline-s& .n his early Pictograph series, "e see gridded arrange#ents of sy#bols rese#bling the kind of pict$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 Cottlieb-s 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" Eork artists,

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 one-s 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 ,$st realistic depictions of ob,ects& 3oth Zen and Abstract-Expressionis# "ere concerned "ith the re#oval of artifice, instead foc$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&

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

Enso, 'ak$in Ekak$& c& 5Hth-54th cent$ry&

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

/orks Cited K+'E C%;;EC+.%=&K MoMA.org& =&p&, n&d& /eb& 8I 9ec& 7856& 1la#, (ack 9& K4&K Motherwell& =e" EorkL i@@oli, 5>>5& =& pag& Print& K'eart S$traL 1or# .s E#ptiness, E#ptiness .s 1or#&K Heart Sutra: orm !s Em"tiness, Em"tiness !s orm& =&p&, n&d& /eb& 8I 9ec& 7856& 'ellstein, Galerie& A#stract Ex"ressionism$s Counterculture: %he Clu#, the Cold &ar, and the 'ew Sensi#ilit(. !o#a&org& P91& ;a"rence, obyn C& K/hat .s /abi-SabiDK &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& K+he Appreciation of Zen Art&K ,en"aintings.com& =&p&, n&d& /eb& 8I 9ec& 7856& KS$#i-e&K -utsider +a"an& =&p&, n&d& /eb& 8I 9ec& 7856& S"eet, 3elinda& KZen Circles of .ll$#ination&K ,en"aintings.com& =&p&, n&d& /eb& 8I 9ec& 7856&