MORITA SHIRYU (1912-1998)

Morita Shiryu made his name in the post-war Japanese art history by revolutionizing the traditional Eastern art format – calligraphy. He valued the moment of true feelings in the process of creation, and for this reason, his emphasized on the expression of emotions, the movement and rhythm of life. He pushed the boundary between the West and the East, where his almost-abstraction-like artistic language liberated his works from the traditional approach of calligraphy; he also blurred the line between painting and calligraphy, as his works could be seen as both. During his artistic career, he constantly went back to the word ryu (dragon) and experimented all kinds of materials, which was a character of his art.
For another work by the artist, Dragon Knows Dragon, dated 1969, in The Art Institute of Chicago, see Janice Katz, ed., Beyond Golden Clouds, exh. cat. (Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago; St. Louis: St. Louis Art Museum, 2009), no. 30. The expression "dragon knows dragon" means to believe in oneself.