1958, Mark Tobey, Northwest Drift -- Tate Modern (London)
From the museum label: Northwest Drift is a meditative response to Seattle's grey and hazy landscape. Yet, as Tobey once remarked, 'The Orient has been the greatest influence’ of his life. In 1918, he converted to the Baha'i faith and sought to explore the spiritual in his art and an alternative to surrealism's automatism. His interest in calligraphy began during his eastern Mediterranean trip in 1926. After studying calligraphy and practising meditation at a Zen monastery near Kyoto in 1934, he developed his signature 'white writing' style. Built on thousands of interlaced white lines, this technique forms a calligraphic mesh on the surface.
1958, Mark Tobey, Northwest Drift -- Tate Modern (London)
From the museum label: Northwest Drift is a meditative response to Seattle's grey and hazy landscape. Yet, as Tobey once remarked, 'The Orient has been the greatest influence’ of his life. In 1918, he converted to the Baha'i faith and sought to explore the spiritual in his art and an alternative to surrealism's automatism. His interest in calligraphy began during his eastern Mediterranean trip in 1926. After studying calligraphy and practising meditation at a Zen monastery near Kyoto in 1934, he developed his signature 'white writing' style. Built on thousands of interlaced white lines, this technique forms a calligraphic mesh on the surface.