Evidently, beauty does not necessarily spell perfection of form. This has been one of the favorite tricks of Japanese artists—to embody beauty in a form of imperfection or even of ugliness.
When this beauty of imperfection is accompanied by antiquity or primitive uncouthness, we have a glimpse of sabi, so prized by Japanese connoisseurs. Antiquity and primitiveness may not be an actuality. If an object of art suggests even superficially the feeling of a historical period, there is sabi in it. Sabi consists in rustic unpretentiousness or archaic imperfection, apparent simplicity or effortlessness in execution, and richness in historical associations (which, however, may not always be present); and, lastly, it contains inexplicable elements that raise the object in question to the rank of an artistic production. These elements are generally regarded as derived from the appreciation of Zen. The utensils used in the tearoom are mostly of this nature. [Zen and Japanese Culture, 24] Wabi or sabi, therefore, may be defined as an active aesthetical appreciation of poverty; when it is used as a constituent of the tea, it is the creating or remodeling of an environment in such a way as to awaken the feeling of wabi or sabi. Nowadays, as these terms are used, we may say that sabi applies more to the individual objects and environment generally, and wabi to the living of a life ordinarily associated with poverty or insufficiency or imperfection. Sabi is thus more objective, whereas wabi is more subjective and personal.
P.S. The painting is not mine. But it is very delicate and i like it.
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