Barnett Newman, 1948
Onement, I
In Japan, there was a tradition of composing a poem on your deathbed, called a jisei. One final reflection on the totality of your life, a gift to your family, and a distillation of a complex existence into something beautiful. In 1769, the dying poet Shisue was asked by his students to compose a jisei, and with his brush, the master drew a single circle. read more
