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Mark Tobey
MARK TOBEY, 1957. TEMPERA ON PAPER.
A mystic of the west coast and sage of Seattle, the paintings speak of a metaphysical oneness that can be achieved through art, faith and creation. Mark Tobey’s work cannot be understood outside of his prescription to the Baháʼí Faith, a spiritual religion that believes in the unity of all people outside of faith, nationality, race, or sex. All major religions are unified in their core beliefs, according to Bahá’i, but divergent in their social practices and interpretations and the world can only be prosperous when these groups come together. Tobey took up this faith in the early 1900s while travelling across Japan and China, where he also learnt traditional calligraphy and brushstroke styles. He pioneered ‘all-over’ painting, where the artwork is removed from the confines or composition and each inch is as valuable as the next, with no centre of information anywhere. Predating Pollock and the Abstract Expressionists who were deeply inspired by Tobey, his works reward deep looking that enters you into a world of remarkable peacefulness.