SENGAI GIBON (1750-1837) AND “UNIVERSE” IN THE LIGHT OF ZEN-BUDISM

While examining Far Eastern art, it is necessary to review the philosophical currents that have dominated for centuries. Sengai Gibon is a Zen-Buddhist priest and philosopher painter who has made art history. He is one of the few Japanese artists known and inspired (Hiroshige, Hokusai etc.) with his works not only in the Far East but all over the world. His most prominent work; It became the "Universe". In addition to being a painter who summarizes the universe with three basic geometrical shapes (triangle-square-circle), he is also important because he stood out as an artist-thinker with an astonishing foresight and vision, who expressed and illustrated it a century before Paul Cezanne. The art world, which is always in search of innovation and pursuit, tends to abstract tendencies, as if escaping from the destructive reality of war, especially in the post-war periods, one of them is Far Eastern art and Zen-Buddhist approaches, one of the philosophical movements based on faith. Western art, in the process of modernization, included the exotic culture and art of Japanese culture and art; In particular, it was heavily influenced and nurtured by the unusual approaches in Zen-Buddhist paintings. Sengai is one of the most prominent artists in influencing.

Keywords

Far East, Chinese, Japanese, Zen, Sengai, Art.