The Daily Valdemar No. 15: March 27

Valdemar Andersen, sketch for The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzô, 1925.
Private collection.

Today's moment of calm is indeed one of stepping outside the turmoil that the world brings to sense the present.

The tea ceremony is a worship of purity and refinement, in which host and guests join to produce the utmost beauty of the mundane, according to Okakura Kakuzô, whose Danish edition of The Book of Tea was illustrated by Valdemar Andersen in 1925. Valdemar did so by honouring the Zen tradition of doing more by doing less. No color, but tiny vignettes in black and white. The present drawing is about 8 cm. in height and another sketch of the scene is still in existence in which we can follow the road he was taking to eliminate as many details as possible.

The room is no longer defined. It is as ephemeral as the movement of pouring water onto the tea leaves of which the arm has become one with the movement itself. It is a master arm that brings out the art of tea Okakura Kakuzô lets us understand:

"Not a colour to disturb the tone of the room, not a sound to mar the rhythm of things, not a gesture to obtrude on the harmony, not a word to break the unity of the surroundings, all movements to be performed simply and naturally".

With this let me no longer disturb the scene with words.