On Composition Study: Empty Space in Chinese Paintings

Lots of Chinese paintings contain a great deal of empty space, emanating a certain calm, tranquility, serenity.

This peculiar æsthetical choice could at least be unconsciously rooted in a fundamental Eastern philosophical concept: emptiness

Here are a few examples of such paintings, all created by Zhang Lu (1464–1538, 張路), and compiled in an Album of Daoist Paintings, by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The notion of emptiness (空, kōng; 空性 kōng xìng), or Śūnyatā in Sanskrit, is quite central in Taoism and Buddhism, two major historical Chinese religions/spiritual systems.

Also note on those previous paintings, the incrusted flecks of gold, not only intrinsically rich in symbolism, but also here “transcending” the bodies.

Those ideas (emptiness and transcendence) are also expressed in the following “impressionist” piece, where the textures recall typical Chinese landscape paintings, providing along the way the immortal with a great sense of height:

Note: That appreciation of emptiness isn’t strictly specific to the East. Claude Debussy (1862-1918) once said:

Music is the space between the notes.

Traditional Western music, such as Gregorian chants, tends to emphasize those silences, by contrast with contemporary music; and so does traditional Chinese music:

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