Zen Art: Between History and Imagination

Catalog description

The word “Zen” today often evokes romanticized associations—calmness, harmony with nature, aesthetic simplicity, and the advice to “be present” in the here and now. This course examines how such ideas emerged historically and shaped understandings of Zen art. Focusing on the visual and material culture of Zen Buddhism, we will trace the formation of Zen traditions in premodern China and Japan and the development of artistic practices within monastic, social, and political contexts. Topics include: the myths surrounding the founder Bodhidharma; the institutionalization of medieval Zen monasteries; and architecture, gardens, ink painting, calligraphy, portraiture, and chanoyu, popularly known as the Japanese tea ceremony. We will also explore the modern reception of Zen in twentieth-century Europe and America, when it was introduced by figures such as D. T. Suzuki and embraced by artists and intellectuals associated with modernism and the counterculture. Throughout the course, students will critically consider how “Zen art” has been variously defined, imagined, and contested across time and place.