Zen at its Finest

This is a landscape by Zen painter Sesshu
I love japanese art because you can just sit back and enjoy the piece and have light conversation of it. Also i like how many different people could come up to this painting and have a different interpretation of it, instead of playing I spy looking for icons and sybolistic characters you get to enjoy the piece as it is. To me this painting depicts a calm and peaceful chilly morning and the people are comming back home from fishing maybe or they probably went out for a walk. i think it feels chilly to me because of the monochromatic black and the harsh edges and lines in the mountains. I also saw morining because it has a misty feel and made me think of dew or how sometimes it gets misty in the morning then it dies out because of the sun later. It could also be misty because they're on a moutain top, depending on how high the altitude is, that could be clouds.

I love how japanese art has an openess to it; there's foreground then there is background. the middle ground here to me reads as water, i think i see some sails on the water. Maybe that second moutain with the small house on there is in the middle ground too, and the misty moutain behind that house it breaks up into and forces itself into the middle ground. this piece isnt like the other pieces i have seen in japanese art. Usually the foreground is smaller and doesn't go into the middle or background; leaving the middle ground completely open. But even with that i still feel the openess.

This image is from the book but I just wanted to show an example of what japanese art usually looks like and compare the two. the two deffinately look different, but the one on top still has that japanese feel to it. Also it is said there are seven qualities of Zen art; those qualities are asymmetry, simplicity, austere meaning like a look of withering in winter than abundance in spring or summer, naturalness, spiritual depth, lack of attachment, and tranquility. (Toget a better understanding the site i got this from is http://www.japanese-arts.net/painting/gen_zen.htm) And the artwork that embodies all of these qualities is considered a fine piece of work meaning like really good.

Woman With a Pearl Earring

This painting is Girl with a pearl earring by Johannes Vermeer surprisingly the pearl earring is said to be the focal point of this piece, but I can't help but to stare at her eyes. It feels like I walked into the room and called for her attention and the expression she has on her face is in response to me calling her. Even the textures in this piece are amazing; the wrap on her head shows the folds and softness of the fabric. The pearl looks like an actual pearl you can see it's smooth rounded texture. Also the softness in her face; it's like he captured the true softness in women, you can sense the gentleness in her expression. She looks like a real woman that you could walk up to and talk to her!

 

It is also rumored that this painting is the Dutch version of the Mona Lisa. To me this piece isn't as mysterious as the Mona Lisa, the Mona Lisa has a more michevious feel to me, the expression on this girl face looks to be genuwine. Where as, the Mona Lisa expression seems like she's faking it. She smiles but not with her eyes. Actually she doesn't really smile to me it's more of a cunning smirk like she knows something you dont kind of smirk.

But there is some mystery to Girl With a Pearl Earring, it is unknown if this painting was commisioned and if it was, nobody has a clue who it was commisioned for. Also it is said that this painting may not have been intended for a portrait, this painting could have been just a face to pratice facial expressions. Nobody know the purpose of this piece, but it is very beautiful to look at.