Ni Zan, 14th cent. Chinese hermit painter

This China Daily article highlights the 14th-century Chinese landscape painter Ni Zan (Ni Tsan), known as the “hermit of cloud forest.”

“You hardly find images of people in his paintings, except for maybe a few Taoist monks, as he regarded ordinary people as so much less attractive than what he imagined and depicted in his art,” notes Lu Li, director of the curatorial department of Nanjing Museum in Jiangsu province.

URL: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sunday/2011-09/18/content_13727099.htm

Australian hermit documentary

ABC TV of Australia first aired the documentary “Hermits: Freedom or Madness” in February of 1998 on its Compass series. (Mentioned in this blog back in 2003!) The documentary is now available on the web.

Description from the Compass site:

COMPASS follows six very different Australians who’ve all chosen to live lives of complete seclusion, free from obligations – withdrawn from society (yet in some cases still living in urban environs), exploring life in depth.
We meet people like Vyn Bailey, a hermit and yogin – Father Ronan, a Priest and anchorite – and Pravrajika Ajayaprana, a Hindu nun.

URLs:
Compass site: http://www.abc.net.au/compass/series/1998/hermits.htm
Video: http://www.catholictv.tv/new/index.php/programs/113-freedom