Zen Paintings

One of the key features of Zen (as a Buddhism or philosophy) is freedom, becoming free from almost everything, especially from fixed ways of thinking, experiences, traditions, even beliefs.

A painting is a very good medium to deliver some Zen concept and idea since a painting is a visual message, in a more abstract way than a poem. A poem delivers a message, some kind of thought, feeling or mood but by using words. By using words the message becomes more descriptive. A painting is more abstract. Abstract means more freedom, less restrictions. Viewers have more freedom how to see a painting and what to see in a painting than poem readers have when they read a poem.

Zen paintings look very simple in terms of objects, shapes of objects, compositions, colors. But simpleness does not mean a simple message. Viewers' interpretations of one simple Zen painting are diverse as viewers have a big freedom how to see and interpret it due to its simplicity. Zen paintings are usually very simple like depicting a simple real world object or a few objects and not so abstract - not necessarily abstract to give viewers a lot of freedom.

Many people say that abstract paintings are difficult to understand. Some people like and appreciate and enjoy abstract paintings mostly due to the freedom for understanding the paintings while some people do not like them or have no comment to give as they do not understand the paintings.

Zen paintings feature being simple and not so abstract but give viewers a lot of freedom
including the sense of freedom and the importance of freedom. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Graceful Disorder (錯落有致 )

Western people find beauty in "in order" while Chinese people find beauty in "in disorder" as well as "in order". Graceful Disorder ( 錯落有致 ) is one of the expressions of this Chinese sense of beauty.








I have discovered:

1) Western people find beauty in ferns (mainly due to their symmetry pattern of leaves, plus maybe their light green color usually) and I know some women having the name of fern as a given name. I never heard of a Japanese woman having a name of fern or シダ（羊歯） 子(Shidako)，蕨（わらび）子 (Warabiko, it is a good name, isn't it?) and Chinese women having a name of fern or 蕨 (jué) . Symmetrical beauty does not so much attract the Japanese and Chinese people as Westerners.

2) Western people try to clean up the things placed in a seemingly messy or disordered way and change them to in a neat and ordered way and do not try to find some hidden beauty in the things arranged in an seemingly disordered but graceful way in a certain manner either intentionally or unintentionally.


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Chinese Shan Shui Paintings （山水画）

1) Shan Shui Paintings

Shan Shui Paintings (or Chinese traditional landscape paintings 山水画) may look very strange to the eyes of the Western people which are familiar with oil landscape paintings and maybe to the eyes of the other non-Chinese people too. The strangeness is not only at the first seeing but mostly may continue unless you study some about Shan Shui Paintings. On the contrary Chinese Flowers and Birds Paintings are not so strange as Shan Shui Paintings and even make the eyes and hearts of the Western people comfortable and pleasant which is the nature of good visual arts in general.

China has a huge population and very long history but their culture has been more unique than universal in the world. Shan Shui Paintings are particularly so. Generally, it is not easy to understand and appreciate Shan Shui Paintings. You must study them. Shan Shui Paintings are encoded so that you must decode them to understand the meanings of them.

2) Literati Paintings

Chinese Literati Paintings were developed very early much earlier than 1000DC. The definition of Literati Paintings is not so simple. They are not always the paintings made by Literati. Chinese Literati preferred poems and calligraphies to painting in art and mostly preferred philosophies and histories to arts.
There have been many good 'painters cum calligraphers' but not many good 'painters cum poets' although painters often wrote poems on their paintings. And almost no good 'painters cum philosophers' and good 'painters cum historians.


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Asnet Art Gallery （亚讯画廊） Opening Message

Asnet Art Gallery （亚讯画廊） Opening Message


Asnet Art Gallery （亚讯画廊）is open for general public for the purpose of enhancing appreciation of art, paintings in particular. The activities include:

1. Promotion of the appreciation of paintings and art in general

2. Opening lectures on paintings and art in general

3. Providing and introducing painting classes

4. Authenticity checking of paintings

5. Supplying news on art and auctions especially in paintings

6. Sales and purchase of paintings

7. Sales and purchase of magazines and books on paintings and art in general

8. Other activities related with art and paintings


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Chinese Modern Paintings

Chinese modern paintings have been undervalued for a long time when considering their high level of techniques and spirituality. The current rapid upward re-evaluation is mostly due to the recent growing China economy and monetary wealth but this is a welcome trend as they have high values to be appreciated by people in the world.

There are several reasons why they have been undervalued for a long time.

1) Mass production

Chinese painting artists produce really a lot of paintings in their lives. It is quite easy for them to make more than ten paintings a day because of the materials they use - ink, water and big brushes. And speed is often required to make a painting more vivid, showing movement, force, flow, direction, etc. Even very good and high quality paintings, when they are produced a lot, their values are generally diluted. But the mass production of this type has no relation with the level of quality.


2) Not enough advertisement

Chinese people have not used much time, money and efforts to say to people in the other world "Chinese paintings are very high in quality as you can see easily", etc. And theoretical and systematic explanations (which Western people prefer) why "Chinese paintings are very high in quality' have not been enough.


3) Different sense of beauty

How Chinese people see beauty in nature or paintings are naturally differ from the Western world. Symmetry is not seen as beauty so much and asymmetry or well balanced asymmetry is appreciated more as beauty.





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