Sesson Shukei – A Zen monk-painter in medieval Japan

“… The enduring importance of Asian art, and specifically that of Japan, becomes evident in studying the career and extensive legacy of the mysterious Zen monk and painter Sesson shukei. Art historians can glean only little information about him from contemporaneous sources, and they even remain unsure of the exact years of his birth and death. What do survive, however, are Sesson’s exceptional works of art. Created in a time of crisis and war, the paintings’ boundless vitality and energetic style remind us that political conflict and social upheaval cannot stifle the power of human expression. …”

Contents
Director’s Message
Foreword
Acknowledgments and Note to Reader
Preface
Map of Sesson’s Japan
Essays
. Sesson Shukei: Zen, Secret Teachings, Reconnaissance, and Modelessness
. The Practices of Ink Painting in Late Medieval Kanto
. Imagining Sesson: A Legacy Between Fact and Fiction
Entries
. Part I Sesson
. Part II Before and During Sesson’s Time
. Part III After Sesson
Appendix
Sesson’s Followers and Life Years, Primary Sources, Bibliography, Image Credits, Notes, and Index