Julius Bissier (1893 — 1965) German painter and draughtsman. In 1927 he met the sinologist Ernst Grosse, who in introducing him to ancient Chinese thought enabled him to familiarize himself with a form of art completely outside the European tradition. In 1930 he began to make ink paintings, in the same year meeting in Paris with Constantin Brancusi, who taught him that art was rooted in meditation. When a fire destroyed almost all his works in 1934 he started again from scratch and began to paint in a style influenced by Chinese monochrome ink paintings. From then on he concentrated on the technique of wash drawing in black India ink. Strongly influenced by Taoism, he combined spontaneity and mastery in a single gesture, as in Masculine–Feminine Unity Symbol (1934). The monochrome ink paintings he executed throughout this period, such as Penetration (1939). He called these small pictures ‘miniatures’, but they might also be referred to as microcosms, because of the wealth of their symbolism. Julius Bissier like and Mark Tobey, he was one of the first modern western painters to have sought inspiration from the art of the Far East.
Posted on: Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:21:43 +0000
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