John Stucky – The river bend

Kuncan, considered one of the great individualist masters of the 17th century, began as a serious and dedicated Buddhist. He was an abbot of a Chan/Zen monastery. Yet he expressed his very personal Buddhism through his paintings, which follow the Confucian scholar painting tradition. His work can seem fussy and rather difficult to appreciate—or get into, but once you do, you are well rewarded. He was the subject of my never-to-be-finished doctoral dissertation. I am still intrigued with him.