The Art of Zen: Paintings and Calligraphy by Japanese Monks 1600-1925

As an artist, I was looking for more visual examples. This book was informative about the artists and their history, if that's what you're looking for. More calligraphy than art (paintings) and the paintings are largely of Daruma.

This book brings alive the arduous process behind true enlightenment and the desire to share it through image. Zenga and the masters who created it inspire me to deepen my own spiritual practice and to express my insights reverently through my own art.

Well worth the price especially for a hard cover book. The content is detailed and full of great examples. Enjoyed learning about the subject.

Worthwhile purchase

Very helpful book. Well made.

I was looking for a zen master who was born in 1750 and died in 1841 named Senke who had a very similar life as Sengai Gibon. Stephen Addiss did a great job!

"The Art of Zen" is a beautiful, beautiful book and has taken its place on my read-again-and-again bookshelf. The 200+ page book is not only packed with the history of zen in Japan as exemplified by the major zen monk artists but complemented by many examples of their art. The history is divided into seven major periods that discussed the political and cultural climate of Japan as well as the philosophic perspective of Zen Buddhism.There are extensive biographies of each of the major monk artists with examples of the work and, often times, their poetry. For example, the death poem of Ryonen, one of zen nuns, reads, "In the autumn of my 66th year, I've already lived a long time- The intense moonlight is bright upon my face. There's no need to discuss the principles of koan study; Just listen carefully to the wind outside the pines and cedars."In addition, Addis brings an artist's eye to the paintings and his commentaries on technique, execution and innovation are enlightening (no pun intended)and help to explain how zen seeks to express the "inexpressible."I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Zen, in art, in the Japanese culture or with a desire to better understand the view of life seen by awakened men and women.

This collection of zen masterpieces is one that youwill return to again and again. Addiss has managedto cover the history of Japanese zen through amplebiographies of zen artists with numerous samplesof their painting and calligraphy. The book itself hasthe wonderful ability to capture the spirit of zen andAddiss, himself a marvelous artist and writer,inspires readers with experiences of enlightenmentin just over 200 pages.

If you’re looking for a book with plenty of good reproductions, then this isn’t the book for you.

At the first pages the love for Asian art by Stephen Adiss is clear.It is a reference book about Zen calligraphy. Five stars if you're interested in but not indispensable if only curious.

Informative and entertaining with stories about famous monks and patriarchs. The book was surprisingly readable, not at all dry or academic.

Fast delivery, great work included, with explanation. Definitely great book for calligraphy practicer and interested in Zen.