SHIBAYAMA ZENKEI (1894-1974)
Enso

 

Ink on paper
Size: 21" x 16 1/4" (27 1/4" x 56" with mounting)
Mounting: Beige silk
Click here to view complete mounting

Translation:

Flowers are fragrant,
but they fade away.

 

Zenkei's inscription inspires a number of interpretations. The most immediate meaning is that the world's beauty is transient, but Buddha nature is eternal. Yet it also points out that the simplest everyday things contain the profoundest truths.

Shibayama Zenkei was one of the most prominent Zen masters of the twentieth century, and particularly influential in the West.  He was an accomplished artist whose works are much admired.

As head of the Nanzen-ji branch of Rinzai Zen, Shibayama oversaw the administration of over five hundred temples.  He held professorships at both Hanazono and Otani Universities, and lectured throughout the United States and Europe.

Shimbayama was also a prolific author and many of his works have been translated into English.  Indeed, his writings combined with the many lectures he gave abroad in the 1960s and 70s significantly contributed to the establishment of Zen in the West.

 

For price information, please contact
Danielle Williams at:  zenpaintings@gmail.com

back