The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin

Friday, October 1 — Sunday, January 16

Hakuin Ekaku, Seated Daruma, Seen from the Side. Ink on paper, 42.5 x 14.7 in. Ginshu Collection. Photo: Maggie Nimkin.

Widely acknowledged as the leading Zen master of the last five centuries, Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768) was also the most significant Zen artist of his time. He not only expressed the mind and heart of Zen for monks and lay followers (it was he who first asked "What is the sound of one hand?") but also reached out to the entire population with his painting and calligraphy. For this first exhibition in the West devoted to Hakuin, 78 of his scrolls will be gathered from collections in the United States and Japan. Organized in collaboration with New Orleans Museum of Art, and curated by Audrey Yoshiko Seo and Professor Stephen Addiss.

View an image gallery from the exhibition

The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy by Zen Master Hakuin has been organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art and curated by Audrey Yoshiko Seo and Professor Stephen Addiss.

Support for the exhibition at Japan Society has been provided by the E. Rhodes & Lena B. Carpenter Foundation, Chris Wachenheim, Edward and Anne Studzinski, and the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation. Education programs at Japan Society Gallery are supported by the National Endowment for the Arts.


Media sponsorship is provided by

Exhibitions at Japan Society are also made possible in part by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and the Friends of the Gallery.