Artwork Details
58 x 35-7/8 in. (image) 92-3/8 x 44-1/8 in. (overall)
PeriodMr. and Mrs. Richard Crane Fund
CopyrightAsian Art (Japanese and Korean)
Color Palette(Leighton Longhi, New York); purchased by Alan J. and Ann Strassman, Wellesley, Massachusetts; purchased by the Indianapolis Museum of Art in 2000.
達磨図
Bodhidharma, the first Chinese Chan (Zen) patriarch, is said to have meditated facing a wall for nine years at the Shaolin monastery. He is the embodiment of fierce and unflagging determination. Yet it is difficult to decide whether the furrowed brows and grimacing mouth of Kyosai's figure signal firmness of will or befuddlement. The image fits into a long tradition of humorous caricature of Zen patriarchs. Determinedly rejecting superficial attractiveness or saccharine religious emotion, Zen art frequently seems iconoclastic and irreverent. Reflecting the spirit of its practitioners, Zen art emphasized getting to the heart of the matter rather than getting hung up on appearances. Kyōsai was a devout Buddhist.
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