Author Information
Ling Sayuri Chen, Independent Scholar, JapanAbstract
This study reexamines the art-historical question of how nature is perceived and represented, focusing on El Greco (1541–1614) and Paul Cézanne (1839–1906). While El Greco deliberately distorted form to visualize spiritual reality, whereas Cézanne deconstructed form to reveal the very structure of perception. What unites them is a shared perceptual inquiry that transcends the classical conception of nature in terms of perspective and seeks a reintegration of spirit and nature. Furthermore, this paper examines the thought of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Yamaga Sokō to explore the divergences and convergences between Western and Eastern cosmologies of nature. By articulating an alternative genealogy of the understanding of nature distinct from the classical tradition born in the Renaissance, the study aims to illuminate the perception of nature from a global theoretical perspective. It also emphasizes the influence of science, technology, and Eastern art—particularly the work of Hokusai—on the emergence of this “new lineage of perception.” Moreover, this study connects this to Yamaga Sokō's critique of the Zhu Xi-inspired vertical causal understanding of nature, discussing it in relation to his notion of a “horizontal relational world,” which conceives existence as a simultaneous, multi-layered network of interrelations. Finally, the study concludes that Cézanne's perceptual space resonates with Merleau-Ponty's understanding of the world, which cannot be reduced to a single principle but rather constitutes an interweaving of multiple relationalities—a “weave of existence.”
Comments
Powered by WP LinkPress