Ensō: Zen Circles of Enlightenment by Audrey Yoshiko Seo, foreword by John Daido Loori – a beautifully illustrated study of the Zen circle in Japanese calligraphy. Hardcover with dust jacket, Very Good.
The ensō is one of the most prevalent images of Zen art and has become a symbol of the clean, strong Japanese aesthetic. It has been read as everything from a rice cake to a symbol of infinity, but above all it is an expression of the mind of the artist who brushes it. Seo presents over 100 ensō by Zen masters from the 17th century to the present, with translations of their inscriptions and commentary on each work.
Seo discusses the history of the ensō from its roots in Chinese Chan Buddhism to its flowering in Japan, and the different ways Zen masters used it – as a teaching device, as an expression of enlightenment, and as a question put to the viewer. Each work is reproduced with a translation of the inscription and commentary on the artist and meaning.
Beautifully produced with large, clear reproductions, it is one of the few books devoted entirely to the ensō and a favourite with calligraphers, artists and Zen practitioners.
Audrey Yoshiko Seo is an American scholar of Japanese art specialising in Zen painting and calligraphy, and author of The Art of Twentieth-Century Zen. John Daido Loori was the founding abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery in New York.
Ideal for: Zen practitioners, calligraphers and brush painters, and collectors of Japanese art books.
Carefully packed and shipped from Australia. Questions about this copy, or want more photos? Get in touch.
Ensō: Zen Circles of Enlightenment by Audrey Yoshiko Seo, foreword by John Daido Loori – a beautifully illustrated study of the Zen circle in Japanese calligraphy. Hardcover with dust jacket, Very Good.
The ensō is one of the most prevalent images of Zen art and has become a symbol of the clean, strong Japanese aesthetic. It has been read as everything from a rice cake to a symbol of infinity, but above all it is an expression of the mind of the artist who brushes it. Seo presents over 100 ensō by Zen masters from the 17th century to the present, with translations of their inscriptions and commentary on each work.
Seo discusses the history of the ensō from its roots in Chinese Chan Buddhism to its flowering in Japan, and the different ways Zen masters used it – as a teaching device, as an expression of enlightenment, and as a question put to the viewer. Each work is reproduced with a translation of the inscription and commentary on the artist and meaning.
Beautifully produced with large, clear reproductions, it is one of the few books devoted entirely to the ensō and a favourite with calligraphers, artists and Zen practitioners.
Audrey Yoshiko Seo is an American scholar of Japanese art specialising in Zen painting and calligraphy, and author of The Art of Twentieth-Century Zen. John Daido Loori was the founding abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery in New York.
Ideal for: Zen practitioners, calligraphers and brush painters, and collectors of Japanese art books.
Carefully packed and shipped from Australia. Questions about this copy, or want more photos? Get in touch.
