Chan (Better known in English by the Japanese term "Zen")

Artists

Description

This square album leaf is inscribed with a single character reading "Chan". The character, which is better known in the West by the Japanese pronunciation "Zen," refers to a meditative sect of Buddhism that claimed--and still claims--numerous adherents in both China and Japan. The text was composed and inscribed on this album leaf by Fung Ming Chip (standard Mandarin transcription: Feng Mingqiu). The character is written in cursive, or running, script ("xingshu") in a manner that the artist characterizes as "splash script." The artist created this calligraphic work by splashing very wet, black ink at the top of the album leaf and then, using a brush loaded with water, by inscribing the character within the main and largest portion of the splash, creating a work in which the character appears pale gray against the black splash. Smaller dots of ink radiate out from the main splash. This calligraphic work is not dated; however, the artist stated to the curator that he created it in 2009. This calligraphic work is not signed, but it includes one seal of the artist, which identifies it as a work of Fung Ming Chip. The seal, which the artist himself carved, can be described as follows: Square, red, relief seal reading "Dui Cuo Yi Sheng" [Note: The seal reading Dui Cuo Yi Sheng can be translated as "Right and wrong in life"]

Dimensions

calligraphy proper: 45.2 x 46 cm (17 13/16 x 18 1/8 in.) mounting: 70.1 x 50 cm (27 5/8 x 19 11/16 in.)

Provenance

Fung Ming Chip, Hong Kong (2009-2010), sold; to Susan L. Beningson, New York, 2010, gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2010. NOTE: This work was created by Fung Ming Chip in Hong Kong in 2009.