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context: painting > Zen painting > Subjects
Bamboo
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by Gibon Sengai |
Bamboo really isn't a big Zen subject, nor is it specifically Zen. It's one of the 'four gentlemen' of the plant world, the revered and much painted plants, to each of which are ascribed various qualities. Bamboo was seen as upright and noble, as strong yet flexible. Its evergreen nature was linked to loyalty, and within Zen its hollowness was particularly liked as another symbol of Zen emptiness. I think I love a lot of bamboo painting for their formal qualities, without reference to such meanings: the handling of the joints of the stalks in particular, but the often single-stroke painting of each segment and of each leaf, the tonal control and variation, allow artists of talent to do glorious things with a handful of strokes. Sengai, for instance, here shows more technical sophistication than in any other work I've seen by him.
(Note: I hope to extend this section, but haven't been too lucky in finding the images I've sought, so far. Help will be appreciated!)