Skip to main content
Fire Enso
Fire Enso
Fire Enso

Fire Enso

Maker (Japanese, 1718 - 1779)
Daten.d.
MediumHanging scroll, brush and ink on paper
DimensionsPanel: 38 5/8 × 10 13/16 in. (98.1 × 27.5 cm)
Mounting: 72 1/2 × 14 1/2 in. (184.2 × 36.8 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, Brooks McCormick Jr. Fund
Object number1997.33
Object TypePaintings
On View
Not on view
In this work, Setsudo Joun depicts the profoundly symbolic Zen circle, called in Japanese, enso. This image is perhaps the most condensed visualization of the Buddhist holy text called The Heart Sutra: “Form is Void, and Void is Form.” This sentiment embodies wholeness and completion, but it also paradoxically invokes the transiency of life in its ongoing fluidity. Setsudo made several versions of this image, each accompanied by a poem. In such works, for which multiple editions exist, the uniqueness of the object matters less than the pious act of performing brushed calligraphy to declare central Zen belief, in word and image. Here, he used a broad brush, and with a single, spontaneous yet rigorously controlled action of hand, arm, and body he created a deceptively simple composition of enclosed space and defining outline. Setsudo employed the flying-white technique, in which the bristles separate unevenly as the watery ink is discharged, allowing the white of the paper below to be partially visible. This natural process adds a note of expressiveness that complements well the thin, free-flowing cursive script of the poem inscribed above. The poem itself underscores the spiritual paradox of the Zen circle: Roaring like fire The human heart Amidst the flames of passion. All things ignited But also consumed!

Sun Rise Enso
Nakahara Nantenbō (Toju Zenchu) [Nantenbo]
1920
Enso
Nagata Sakichi (called Jitsudo)
1787 or 1788
Landscape
Saitō Tōshitsu (斉藤等室)
n.d.
Bamboo and Moon
Huang Luzhai
18th - 19th century
Rocks and Orchids
Yun Yong-gu 尹用求 (Yun Yeong-Gu)
early 20th century
Cliff with Orchid and Bamboo
Gim Eung-won 金應元 (Kim Ung-won)
circa 1915
Bamboo in Wind
Gim Gyu-jin (金圭鎭)
n.d.
Winter Landscape
Heo Ryeon (許鍊)
n.d.
Rock (竹方修石方貞)
Jung Hakgyo (丁學敎)
circa 1912
Bamboo
Bak Jae-Hyeon (朴載鉉)
1908
A Courtesan
Teisai Hokuba
probably 1830 - 1844