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Stephen Addiss

Stephen Addiss was an American art historian, musician, painter, and calligrapher. He was a scholar of Japanese art, particularly Zen painting and calligraphy and haiga, and the author of numerous books. Earlier in his career he was, with Bill Crofut, half of the folk-music duo Addiss & Crofut, which toured internationally under United States State Department programs in the 1960s.

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Stephen Addiss
Addiss performing on Rainbow Quest (1966)
Born
Stephen Addiss

1935 (1935)
New York City, U.S.
DiedMay 11, 2022(2022-05-11) (aged 86–87)
Education
  • Harvard University (BA)
  • University of Michigan (MA, PhD)
Occupations
  • Art historian
  • musician
  • painter
  • calligrapher
Known forScholarship on Japanese art; the folk duo Addiss & Crofut

Stephen Addiss (1935 – May 11, 2022) was an American art historian, musician, painter, and calligrapher. He was a scholar of Japanese art, particularly Zen painting and calligraphy and haiga, and the author of numerous books. Earlier in his career he was, with Bill Crofut, half of the folk-music duo Addiss & Crofut, which toured internationally under United States State Department programs in the 1960s.

Early life and education

Addiss was born in New York City in 1935.1 He studied music composition at Harvard University, graduating cum laude in 1957, and continued at the Mannes College of Music. He took an experimental composition course with John Cage at the New School.1 He later earned a master's degree and a doctorate in East Asian art history at the University of Michigan,1 completing his PhD in 1977 with his dissertation on Japanese painter Uragami Gyokudo.2

Music career

With Bill Crofut, Addiss formed the folk duo Addiss & Crofut, which was active for roughly sixteen years beginning in the early 1960s.13 The pair toured many countries in Africa and Asia under the sponsorship of the U.S. State Department's cultural-exchange program,34 performing songs in many languages and were billed as the "troubadours of goodwill."5 On April 2, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson honored Addiss and Crofut at a White House ceremony for their cultural work in Southeast Asia.6

The duo recorded for Folkways Records and Columbia Records. Their albums include 400 Years of Folk Music and World Tour with Folk Songs for Folkways and Addiss and Crofut (1967) and Eastern Ferris Wheel (1968) for Columbia.378 They appeared on national television, including Johnny Carson and "Captain Kangaroo",1 and on Pete Seeger's folk-music series Rainbow Quest, where they performed with the Vietnamese songwriter Phạm Duy.9

Academic career

Addiss taught at the University of Kansas from 1977 to 1992, and then from 1992 at the University of Richmond.1 At Richmond, he held the Tucker-Boatwright Professorship in the Humanities until his retirement in 2013.1011 His scholarship focused on Japanese literati painting (nanga),1213 Zen painting and calligraphy,1415 haiku, and haiga (haiku painting).1

His grants and awards included a presidential award in 1965, a Fulbright-Hays scholarship to Japan in 1981, a Korean government cultural grant in 1979 and grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1984 and 1989.10 Addiss was also an adjunct curator at the New Orleans Museum of Art from 1978 to 198610 and served as honorary curator of the American Haiku Archives at the California State Library, 2009-2010.1

He wrote The Art of Zen: Paintings and Calligraphy by Japanese Monks 1600–1925 (Abrams, 1989).16 He produced a translation of the Tao Te Ching (Hackett, 1993) with Stanley Lombardo.17 Other books in this field he worked on were The Sound of One Hand: Paintings and Calligraphy of Zen Master Hakuin (with Audrey Yoshiko Seo), 77 Dances: Japanese Calligraphy by Poets, Monks, and Scholars 1568–1868 (Weatherhill, 2006), Zen Sourcebook (Hackett, 2008), and The Art of Haiku (Shambhala, 2012).16

Addiss's scholarship was reviewed in leading academic journals, including Monumenta Nipponica,1412 The Journal of Asian Studies,1813 Philosophy East and West,19 and The Art Bulletin.20

In 1968 Addiss composed the music for Emile de Antonio's documentary In the Year of the Pig. He adapted "La Marseillaise" to be played on traditional Vietnamese instruments and wrote an introductory "helicopter concerto" commissioned by the director.21

Artwork

Addiss practiced ink painting, calligraphy, and haiga. This work was exhibited in Asia, Europe, and the United States.161

Personal life and death

Addiss died on May 11, 2022.16

Selected publications

  • The Art of Zen: Paintings and Calligraphy by Japanese Monks 1600–1925. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1989. ISBN 9780810918863.
  • Haiga: Takebe Sōchō and the Haiku-Painting Tradition. Richmond: Marsh Art Gallery, 1995.
  • Tao Te Ching (translation, with Stanley Lombardo). Indianapolis: Hackett, 1993. ISBN 9780872202320.
  • 77 Dances: Japanese Calligraphy by Poets, Monks, and Scholars 1568–1868. New York: Weatherhill, 2006.
  • The Art of Haiku: Its History through Poems and Paintings by Japanese Masters. Boston: Shambhala, 2012. ISBN 9781590309582.
References

References

  1. "Stephen Addiss, Honorary Curator 2009–2010". American Haiku Archives. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  2. "Dissertation Titles". University of Michigan Department of the History of Art. Retrieved May 31, 2026. 1977 Stephen Addiss: Uragami Gyokudo: The Complete Literati Artist (Directed by Cal French)
  3. "Stephen Addiss and Bill Crofut: 400 Years of Folk Music". Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  4. "Bill Crofut, 64, a Folk Singer, Banjo Player and Crossover Artist". The New York Times. February 1, 1999. p. B8. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  5. Crofut, William (1968). Troubadour: A Different Battlefield. Foreword by Robert F. Kennedy. New York: E. P. Dutton. OCLC 440141. Mr. Crofut and his companion, Mr. Addiss, have rightly been called the "troubadours of goodwill."
  6. "Remarks at a Ceremony in Honor of Stephen Addiss and William E. Crofut II". The American Presidency Project. University of California, Santa Barbara. April 2, 1965. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  7. "Addiss & Crofut". AllMusic. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  8. Addiss & Crofut (1967). Addiss and Crofut (LP). New York: Columbia Records. OCLC 13915438. CL 2611 / CS 9411.
  9. "Rainbow Quest, Episode 30: Addiss & Crofut with Phạm Duy". Internet Archive. 1965. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  10. "Addiss, Stephen". Who's Who in America. Marquis Who's Who. Retrieved June 1, 2026 – via Marquis Biographies Online.
  11. Jenkins, Mark (April 3, 2015). "In the galleries: simplicity, spontaneity and the beauty of imperfection". The Washington Post.
  12. Berry, Paul (1988). "Review of Tall Mountains and Flowing Waters: The Arts of Uragami Gyokudō by Stephen Addiss". Monumenta Nipponica. 43 (4): 505–508. JSTOR 2384813.
  13. Berry, Paul (August 1988). "Review of Japanese Quest for a New Vision: The Impact of Visiting Chinese Painters, 1600–1900 edited by Stephen Addiss". The Journal of Asian Studies. 47 (3): 631.
  14. Baekeland, Frederick (1990). "Review of The Art of Zen: Paintings and Calligraphy by Japanese Monks, 1600–1925 by Stephen Addiss". Monumenta Nipponica. 45 (1): 119–121. JSTOR 2384509.
  15. Di Marzo, Cindi (September 12, 2010). "Picturing Paradox: The Sound of One Hand". Studio International. Retrieved June 1, 2026.
  16. "Remembering Stephen Addiss (1935–2022)". Shambhala Publications. 2022. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  17. Lao-Tzu (1993). Tao Te Ching. Translated by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo. Hackett Publishing. ISBN 9780872202320.
  18. Horton, Elizabeth (May 1989). "Review of Tall Mountains and Flowing Waters: The Arts of Uragami Gyokudō by Stephen Addiss". The Journal of Asian Studies. 48 (2): 380.
  19. Kohn, Livia (July 1997). "Review of Tao Te Ching translated by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo". Philosophy East and West. 47 (3): 441.
  20. Singerman, Howard (September 1995). "Review of Art History and Education by Stephen Addiss and Mary Erickson". The Art Bulletin. 77 (3): 511.
  21. Lewis, Randolph (2000). Emile de Antonio: Radical Filmmaker in Cold War America. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. p. 105. ISBN 9780299169107.
External links