Friedrich Zettl Fine Arts Blog
This blog mainly brings posts on art and culture. Some of the contributions deal with topics related to Chinese painting, calligraphy and philosophy. Another dominant aspect are articles on pictures by Friedrich Zettl. These are extensively illustrated with illustrations. There are also occasional articles on culture and philosophy of a general nature.
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Daoist talks (VI) Principles of Dao in Painting
Daoist talks (VI) Principles of Dao in Painting: Chinese painting of the last 1000 years has been shaped primarily by Daoist ideas.
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gone they are
Depression: I would like to take up a topic again today and I promise it will be the last time – for this year. I recently wrote about my winter blues – and they’re gone! Hopefully sustainable.
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Getting rid of the Blues…..
Since my work is very much influenced by ideas from Chinese calligraphy, I wanted to try again to approach things in a more “western” way.
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Winter is here – with its gifts
Even if it’s difficult to predict something these days and even if a lot doesn’t last: my winter depressions are as certain as the back taxes. Nearly. The tax-back payment is more reliable in terms of time.
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Daoist talks (V) Dao and Zen in Arts – analyzed by AI
What AI says, answering my question: The Role of Dao and Zen in Chinese Painting
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Merry – what, actually?
Merry – what, actually? Enjoy your holidays!
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How an idea takes root and persists
Poetry from the sky: Something has stuck in the back of my mind: characters that float down from the sky like leaves or something similar and write a poem at the same time.
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Because it’s Wednesday again…
This and That and Everything: I’ve started 2 new series, one spilling over into the other.
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Daoist talks (IV): Liang Kai The Story of Eight Eminent Monks
Liang Kai is best known in the West for his painting of Li Bai. Only a few know the scroll of “The story of eight eminent monks”.
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explanation and summary of #WordlessWednesday
Explanation and summary of #WordlessWednesday: I came across this initiative about half a year ago and although I don’t usually take part in any activities of this kind, this time it appealed to me.
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New Works for Old Series
A series that is particularly close to my heart is gestural expression. However, my progress in doing so is heavily dependent on how busy I am with calligraphy.
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goodbye #WordlessWednesday
With this last photo of the Wordless Wednesday Project, I would like to thank everyone who has followed this series and, of course, I would especially like to thank you for the numerous feedback and likes.
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black and white. more fish #WordlessWednesday
Black and white. More fish: A fisherman from Negombo points to his dried fish
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Jean Michel Basquiat Exhibition in Vienna
There are exhibitions that give me impulses and make me want to paint myself. However, Basquiat is of such greatness that afterward I ask myself whether it makes any sense at all to continue painting myself.
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the big catch #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
The big catch. Dedicated to the participants of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Photo for #WordlessWednesday
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Daoist Talks (III): The Cosmos in One Dot
Mindfulness in a dot After a lot of theory, we want to highlight practical aspects today, but first a summary of the last post: Everything is Dao, from the smallest dot to the universe; thus, everything is imbued with Dao, especially the counterplay of yin and yang. These are not opposing forces but depend on […]
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busy painting the future #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
busy painting the future. huge wall painting, beijing, china . photo for #WordlessWednesday
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The Dreamweaver’s daughters cast their nets
The Dreamweaver’s daughters cast their nets and the Wolf hour are my last works on the dream cycle.
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belated halloween #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
basement window in the streets of verona, italy 2014. photo for #WordlessWednesday
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three strikes
Three strikes: Today I would like to present 3 newer works and will not write much about them. The first is a play on Zen thought. In the sense of what was said above, it remains without further explanations.
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soft drink delivery #WordlessWednesday
soft drink delivery in the medina of fez, morocco. photo for #WorlessWednesday
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Daoist Talks (II): The Basics
Our main topic will be Daoism in Chinese painting. Understanding the essential aspects of the Dao should help us to understand Chinese painting better and more profoundly.
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standpoint and point of view #WordlessWednesday
A standpoint as point of view. Wien, Liesing 2022. Photo for #WordlessWednesday
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When stars were born – in my club
Posting about the time when stars like Falco frequented my studio.
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Daoist Talk (I) Supplement
Existence of the non-existence. The sound of one hand clapping. An afterword to Daoist talks (I)
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Daoist Talks (I): Two Daoist stories and a Daoist painting
Daoist Talks (I): Two Daoist stories and a Daoist painting. A first step into the world of Taoism in Chinese painting.
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alternative to #WordlessWednesday
Silly old news from The United Kimdon ®: In times like these, we all need something to cheer us up and nothing is better than the unvarnished reality, away from political correctness. Alternative to #WorlessWednesday
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On special request: more Morocco
Morocco trip, photos and report about Fes, the Atlas Mountains and Chefchaouen
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Back from Morocco
Fés – Atlas – Chefchaouen If I work a lot, but the result is less and less, that is usually an unmistakable sign that I need a vacation. And this I did now. First I thought of Italy or Greece but that’s too dangerous. Both countries are known for their good wines 🙂 It’s already […]
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not much to see #WordlessWednesday
not much to see. photo of a river scene for ‘WorlessWednesday
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one of those… #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
It must be one of those black wires. Photo from Vietnam, Hanoi for #WordlessWednesday
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More nonZENse
Article about Daoism and Zen-Buddhism related to fine arts. Introduction of 2 paintings.
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the blind musician #WordlessWednesday
The blind musician. Foto for #WordlessWdenesday. Tianjin, China, 1979.
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two book covers and one dragon
Introducing two cover designs and a new dargon painting.
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curry restaurant kitchen #WordlessWednesday
The kitchen of an amon and curry restaurant in nowhere land, North of Dambulla. Even if the picture doesn’t look inviting, the curries are the finest.
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new projects ahead
Cover for a book: I was asked to create illustrations for a book of poetry and then also to design the cover. Here are some samples.
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wien, the capital of music #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
Vienna, the capital of music, where even the horses jam too. snapshot for #WordlessWednesday by © friedrich zettl
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yes, no coffee today. #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
Yes, we have no coffee today. A Shanghai Starbucks coffeeshop as a failed business. A photo for #WordlessWednesday
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fish and chips #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
Fish and chips Asian style. Negombo, Sri Lanka 2016. Photo for “WordlessWednesday”
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siem reap heartbreakers #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
missing those heartbreakers from siem reap
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electricity buddha #WordlessWednesday #snapshot
a little buddha protects the power supply in sri lanka
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retrieval by nature #WordlessWednesday
Retrieval by nature. Ta Prom, not far from the area where Francis Ford Coppola shot scenes for Apocalypse Now.
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An old sketchbook ….
An old sketchbook bought in Paris 40+ years ago is finally put to good use. And some thoughts on that.
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corporate concept #WordlessWednesday
Chaos Investment Company. Shanghai, Putong. A photo for #WordlessWednesday – no words, just pictures. Allow your photos to tell the story.
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just two characters
I uploaded a new video on youtube, it’s about my calligraphy. Well, in the broadest sense – from traditional to Asemic and painted calligraphy.
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Too young to die – too old to rock’n roll + scam alert
No, it’s not the title of my autobiography and no advertising for Jethro Tull. Much simplier.
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minor, major and a video
bookmarks video: I wanted to present another video in this post, but as a balance to the more abstract works that I am presenting today, this relaxing video with my bookmarks seems to me to be quite suitable. I have already listed many of them on: bookmarks. In this video I used the recently presented intro and a new outro.
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Gold, History, Friends, Sinology and Luxury
An artist’s week in the most livable city in the world: Vienna. About artistic and cultural events.
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only one picture this time….
solid gold: It’s not that I haven’t painted a lot lately, but I’m making slower progress than usual. Some of the work is almost finished and then, only small things are missing, I break off.
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good bye beijing, hello chongqing
After the exhibition in Beijing had to be repeatedly postponed due to the pandemic, the organizer moved the exhibition to Chongqing, to the Hong Art Museum Chongqing.
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dreamtellers
The Surrealists really turned my world around. First was André Breton who opened the door to this world for me. Then came the painters like Max Ernst, Giorgio de Chirico etc.
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how we (I) see
Many years ago I read an article about viewing habits. A certain audience was asked the question (sort of): “Do you think we all see the same thing when we look at something?”
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now and zen and later
A few decades ago, the term Zen moment was quite unknown in the West. Today it has become a consumer item and similar to the pair of terms feng shui 風水, most people do not understand what it is actually about.
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Ophelia 2022
Ophelia 2022: When most art lovers hear the word Ophelia, they probably think of one of the most famous Pre-Raphalelite paintings. Ophelia is a painting by British artist Sir John Everett Millais.
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front page in Chinese newspaper again
The 光明日报 guangming daily has published a quite detailed report about me, and that on the front page. Last year an article about me, with a focus on calligraphy, appeared in this important newspaper,
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teaser for next exhibition
I’ve been needing a few short video clips for my work for a long time. With a little effort I was able to get something going myself, but then the result was too boring for me and I left this task to someone else.
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etudes
Etudes: If one looks up the English-language equivalent of the French term études in conventional dictionaries, the result is generally “studies”. Only when you translate it from a music-theoretical point of view do you come up with “etudes”.
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metaverse (V)
After my last post (metaverse IV) Schrödinger, his cat, you and I basically agreed that IS and NOT-IS can exist at the same time.
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metaverse (IV)
day & night and Schrödinger’s cat [1] I am very pleased that my postings on this topic are so well received and thank you for the general interest!After this posting today, one more on this topic will follow, but it will be easier to understand. Today it gets a little more complicated. When I […]
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metaverse (III)
the beginning and the end Short preliminary remark If I just started with my thoughts, there would be a certain danger of someone shouting: “Hey, that’s not scientific!” Two preliminary remarks are therefore permitted. All our thinking is based on previously thought and mostly we deal with premises. Such as A $100 bill has a […]
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Metaverse Project Started (II)
prologue and reflections After my last 2 postings on Kabul and Pyongyang (in the broadest sense also a kind of metaverse 😊) I would like to come back to my personal metaverse today and in the following postings to come. In the first post on this topic metaverse, I presented initial attempts to devote […]
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My Pyongyang Gig
the last report – promised Now that I’ve started and someone shouted “more”, I would also like to share my Pyongyang experience. But don’t expect a suspenseful story like the one about Kabul. Actually, after Kabul, no stop was dangerous anymore. The most brutal in Pyongyang was the aesthetics (not only in the cityscape […]
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My gig in Kabul
not about art – still worth reading In my last blog post, I promised to write about my Kabul trip if there was interest. Here we go: Preliminary remarks By the mid-1980s, I had finished my dissertation and it was time to trade the comfortable student life for respectable work. A friend I had known […]
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My Ukraine contribution
The picture stands on its own and the title underscores the theme: ” Голубь мира над Киевом”. (Peace Dove over Kiev).
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studies for oil paintings
This week I did some studies on landscape, seascape and organic theme. 3 representative works are presented today.
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state of the art 2022
As I posted in an earlier post, I used to paint a self-portrait every year and named the series “state of art”. This portrait is from 2022.
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my kind of metaverse (I)
In February I started playing around with an idea, but I don’t know if it will become a series yet: It’s dedicated to the metaverse.
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Flyer for my Beijing Exhibition
Flyer for my exhibition in Beijing this spring. Honoring 50 years of cultural exchange between Europe and China.
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Cats in Chinese Painting
Let’s play a little game again: Let’s imagine there is a competition with 3 cats at the start. The “best” cat should be chosen. Which would get your vote: 1, 2 or 3?
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What a dot can do
Reflections on a dot in traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy. About the meaning of the smallest part of a painting.
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diffuse light
When I started thinking of light in fine arts again about who influenced me it was, Lyonel Feininger came to my mind.
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snow and ice and corona
As I mentioned in my last post, January and February are not my favorite months, especially when it comes to painting. But I try to use the time, make drafts, do some calligraphy, play with ideas and try to improve my painting technique.
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watching the night
About winter depressions. Since this topic has been with me for decades, I would like to present a few examples that have emerged over the years. A useful tool to cope with this is the artistic reflection on this topic.
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new works in abstract surrealism
When it comes to painting, I’m most creative in the evening and after-hours. I can turn off the day’s events and concentrate fully on painting. However, I have to be careful not to work too long. It often happens that I start with enthusiasm and vigor and fall in love with a job right from the start.
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triptych variant
I presented a tryptich a few days ago. As is so often the case, the underlying idea has not been shelved for me and so I wanted to see how a variant could look like. So I created another work to replace one of the triptych.
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waltzing corona
My first painting this year is this triptych. I will take this as an opportunity to present my point of view, because if I can manage to explain the essential points clearly, you may look at Chinese art from a different perspective in the future.
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New Year’s Pastime
In China, calligraphy is mainly written for the Chinese New Year, as far as calligraphy is still used. This year I wanted to start our New Year with calligraphy, with a poem by Tang Yin. He’s not my favorite calligrapher, nor my favorite poet, but his work is good if you haven’t practiced seriously in a long time.
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20212022
The year 2021 is over and, like every year, I am taking stock. This time as a blog post.
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bookmark session
Since I don’t celebrate Christmas I have a lot of free time for other activities. And since I came across my box of bookmarks, I took that as an opportunity to create 20 bookmarks again.
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about my surrealist work
When I started painting decades ago, the first few years were marked by surrealism. Mainly because I was more concerned with literature and I soon came across authors like André Breton or Paul Éluard, whose ideas fascinated and influenced me.
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trying environment topic
I made 2 versions on a topic that has been with me for a long time: 2 vanishing points. The easiest way to depict this idea is in a landscape painting and so I chose this construction.
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new territories to explore
I haven’t painted as much for a long time as I did this year and my vigor, joy and urge to improve is unbroken. Now we are in the 4th lockdown and I take it very calmly – more time to paint…. I deliberately took a short break from my Corona series. That prevents me from moving too much in the normal course. This is not new to me, when I enter the feel-good phase I make a caesura. I think it was Jan Cocteau who said: “Bathing in luke-warm water makes you anemic”.
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corona and the sea
Graphing the phenomenon Covid-19 is a difficult undertaking in several respects, whereby the most important questions for me are: How do I make the invisible visible? How do I create a predominantly abstract image in such a way that the underlying phenomenon can be recognized? But above all, how do I convey the areas of feelings such as fear, insecurity, restriction, isolation, communication breakdown, dealing with something that goes beyond our limits of imagination up to dealing with people close to me in death….
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another one of those
Today I would like to present a newer picture and originally I had no intention of writing about it, at least almost. Why this?
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trying the big bang
At the latest when I started to approach abstract painting, and that was only a year ago – so I’m still pretty much at the beginning – an idea stuck in my head. ….
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girls – girls – girls
There was a long period of time in which I painted a lot of portraits. I also painted men, a task that was generally easy for me. Men usually have very distinctive faces, especially older ones. Much more exciting, however, was always the topic of women, and especially girls.
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remembering a landscape
whole, I am quite satisfied. However, they are not landscapes, as I often used to do in the past, that I painted in the wild, but rather a play around with ideas or set pieces.
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simple painting with some ideas
I recently presented a few drafts and sketches, ideas that should flow into my next exhibition on the subject of Covid-19. They were largely abstract. I was very pleased with the feedback, as it helped me to reflect on the topic better. Thank you!
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Out of the Blues into the Blue
I’m still working on my exhibition on the subject of Covid-19 and have now started a few works that are not so abstract. Symbolism, archetypal elements and often stronger emphasis on the painterly are again in the foreground.
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landscapes by the water and in the mountains
I consciously wanted to work on a boring landscape scene by the water. The first draft was too excited, too restless. In this second attempt I managed to capture a mood better. Actually, I wanted to convey more of the feeling that one has when an evening song or serenade is performed by the water in the early dusk.