Five Hundred Arhats No.111 · The Venerable Foremost in Light | Traditional Hand-Painted Chinese Ink Zen Buddhist Figure Painting | 100×50cm

Five Hundred Arhats · No.111 The Venerable Foremost in Light

'Light' is the clarity of wisdom, and 'foremost' is a leader who goes first; the name marks one who stands at the head through wisdom and leads in dispelling darkness. The venerable has clear features and a lucid expression, possessing the insight that guides the deluded with wisdom, serves beings as a beacon and illumines without obstruction.

Painted by Li Zongyi in the freehand Chinese ink (xieyi) tradition, the brushwork is fluent and the ink tones layered from dense to pale, capturing the arhat’s spirit in a few assured strokes. The blank paper itself breathes Zen; figure and spirit are one, blending monastic solemnity with the literati’s ease. Each of the Five Hundred Arhats bears its own name and practice, uniting faith, art and collectibility — an original, non-reproducible hand-painted work.

Size: approx. 100×50cm (4.5 square chi) | Traditional hand-painted Chinese ink Zen Buddhist figure painting | On paper