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Triptych “Mountain”: The Finished Series

Three Abstract Works on Mountains and Caves

The Mountain triptych is now complete. I showed two of its three works in earlier posts; here they can be seen together, with the final panel above them. Mountains and caves remain in the back of my mind, even where the brushwork leaves the landscape open to interpretation.

Third panel of Mountain: broad rust-red and ochre strokes crossed by black arcs on white paper

The final panel carries broad red and ochre strokes through a framework of black arcs. Beside it, the other two paintings make the relationship between dark masses and lighter openings easier to see.

First panel of Mountain: brown, black and green brushwork surrounding pale openings
Second panel of Mountain: dense red, charcoal and muted green forms around a small pale opening
Third panel of Mountain shown again beside the first two panels, with red, ochre and black brushwork

The Chinese character for mountain, 山 (shān), offers a simple point of reference. The illustration below compares a pictographic form with the standard character: three peaks joined at their base.

Diagram comparing a three-peaked mountain pictograph with the standard Chinese character 山

Three peaks can belong to one mountain, just as these three paintings belong together. What else you find in them is up to you.

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3 responses to “Triptych “Mountain”: The Finished Series”

  1. Martha Kennedy avatar
    Martha Kennedy

    I discovered a water color I did in 1988 and I wrote on it — in Chinese — a couplet from my favorite poem. It is a mountain. Maybe my favorite mountain… Definitely a mountain with personal meaning to me. Looking at the writing, I felt like I’d lost something in the interval of other journeys, loves, quests and decided to return to practicing writing Han Zi. I guess that was a journey into one of your images of mountain caverns in my mind.

    Reply
    1. zettl.fr avatar
      zettl.fr

      Thank you Martha, for your comment! Yes, the mountain is very important in Chinese thinking. I am happy that you can see the caves.

      In my first sheet from the cycle, I worked through a pain. When you enter the picture, stand in front of the massive mountain and go into the cave, there is suddenly light, which is a paradox.

      I would like to tell you a little story in connection with mountains. The painter Huang Binhong, whom I admire so much, writes in a little book about landscape painting: “Before I start painting, I make friends with the mountains around me.”

      Reply
      1. Martha Kennedy avatar
        Martha Kennedy

        I love that. It’s true that some mountains are friendlier than others.

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