Payung Merah (Red Umbrella)
Martin Loh is a Singaporean-Malaysian asian modern and contemporary artist who was born in 1952. Largest canvas painted up until age 47 (1999) that was acquired at artist’s show of new works in Singapore. Personal collection.
Indian Goddess
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida
Damo (Bodhidharma)
Shoushan carving, Chen Wenbin. Modern. Personal collection.
Meng Jiangnu, Crying Down The Great Wall
Shoushan carving, Chen Wenbin. Modern. Personal collection
Zen Bull
Kogan Gengei (1748-1821). Born April 27, 1748. Rinzai Zen abbot of Kogen-ji temple in Tamba. Disciple of Hakuin Ekaku and Genro Suio. When a Zen bull sits, it is immovable. Personal collection.
Enso
Kaizan Sokaku (1769-1846). Calligraphy in cursive asks, “Where is it?” or “Why ask why?” to turn the experience of contemplation back to the Zen practitioner’s sense of self and true nature. Personal collection.
[Enso: Zen circles of enlightenment. Audrey Yoshiko Seo, Shambala Publications, Inc. Singapore 2007]
Daruma
Poem translation (Okabe Hisashi, “400 Years of Zen Painting”):
The sound of roaring, terrifying Heaven and Earth
Pitifully, the hundred beasts all run away in fright
Suddenly, he strikes and breaks the front teeth;
Despite all persecutions, he prevails.
Fugai Ekun (1568-1654). In 1616 he became the Soto Zen abbot of Joganji in Sagami Province (now part of Kanagawa Prefect.), but after only a few years he gave up his position to live in caves of the Kamisoga Mountains, which earned him the nickname 「穴風外」Ana Fūgai (‘Cave Fūgai’).
“The paintings of Fūgai Ekun, simply brushed with ink on paper, convey a depth of spirit that makes them unique even within the sphere of Zen art. His works are imbued with a haunting intensity; the eyes of the figures he depicts penetrate deep into the human spirit, providing a sense of direct communication with the artist. Yet Fūgai has not received the recognition that other Zen artists have been given, in large part because he lived far away from the major cultural centers, had no pupils, and founded no school. Historically, Fūgai was the first and most important Zen monk-painter of the Sōtō sect. Fūgai also anticipated future directions in Zenga by inscribing his own poems on his paintings and by brushing informal self portraits. His final years were spent in nomadic travel; he died almost literally ‘on the road’.” Personal collection.
[The Art of Zen: paintings and calligraphy by Japanese monks 1600-1925. Stephen Addiss; publisher Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York (1989); (https://terebess.hu/zen/fugai/FugaiEkun.html]).
Stone
Poem translation: “Small pebbles can build a great wall; purchase this kind of gold all life long!”
Etsuzan Doshu (1629-1709). Born in China as Yueshan Daozong. He came to Japan in 1657 to study with Mokuan. In 1705, six years after he produced this calligraphy, he became the seventh abbot of Manpukuji temple of the Chinese Obaku sect of Zen buddhism near Kyoto. Regarded as one of the finest of the Obaku calligraphers and respected as Sho no Etsuzan (Etsuzan of calligraphy). He frequently started his poems with a dramatic large kanji character. Personal collection.
Priest Kensu Achieving Enlightenment While Catching a Shrimp
Kano Akinobu (1765-1826), active from mid- late-Edo periods. Artist signature is “Kau” and seal is “Ninga.” He was the fifth generation of the Asakusa Saruyacho Daichi Kano family of Omote-e artists who served as an official painter for the Edo shogunate. While a member of the Kano school, he also studied ukiyoe beauty painting, and had a unique style that was both stylish and witty. This painting was the first Japanese painting acquired for my collection, won on e-Bay in 2000.
Self Revealed
Tetsugyu (1628-1700). Chinese Obaku sect Zen master who studied with Teishu, Ryukei, Ingen, Mokuen, and Sokuhi. The last three were leading masters and noted calligraphers of his time. “The two characters of this bold and dynamic calligraphy in cursive script can mean ‘solitary dew,’ but they are part of the Zen phrase ‘Self revealed among the myriad of things,’ representing the state of enlightenment. According to Buddhist belief, the life of an individual is no more than a single drop of dew, but within this impermanence exists the inherent Buddha-nature, which needs only to be awakened and brought forth.” Personal collection.
[The Art of Zen: paintings and calligraphy by Japanese monks 1600-1925. Stephen Addiss; publisher Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York (1989)].
