HORTUS CONCLUSUS

My books, 

wherever they appear, 

turn resigned and tortured souls

into happy men and women.

– ON MY BEHALF

Bô Yin Râ symbolically summarized his spiritual textbook under the name Hortus conclusus (Gated Garden).

Furthermore, he clarifies in the opening chapter of the final volume, also titled Hortus conclusus.

Hortus conclusus consists of 32 books as well spiritual paintings. In addition, Bô Yin Râ published other writings and also created secular images, predominantly landscapes.

Since 1927 all writings have been published by Kober Verlag AG Bern (Switzerland), some of the fine art prints of his paintings are available there, also click here to find more fine art prints.

The textbook Hortus conclusus have been translated into Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Estonian, French, Greek, Hungarian, Portuguese, Swedish and Spanish, and published in the respective countries.

THE WRITINGS

Everyone

who has found access to my spiritual teachings,

letting the words and syllables sink into their inner being,

will receive from his innermost depth what is needed.
– ABOUT MY WRITINGS

The spiritual textbook Hortus conclusus is made up of the following books:

THE BOOK ON THE ROYAL ART (1913/1932) 

> THE BOOK ON THE LIVING GOD  (1919/1927) 

THE BOOK ON LIFE BEYOND (1920/1929) 

THE BOOK ON HUMAN NATURE (1920/1928) 

THE BOOK ON HAPPINESS (1920) 

THE PATH TO GOD (1924) 

THE BOOK ON LOVE (1922/1931) 

THE BOOK ON SOLACE (1924) 

THE BOOK OF DIALOGUES (1920) 

THE SECRET (1923) 

THE WISDOM OF ST. JOHN (1924) 

SIGNPOSTS ALONG THE WAY (1928) 

THE MIRAGE OF TRUE FREEDOM (1930) 

THE PATH OF MY PUPILS (1932) 

THE MYSTERY OF GOLGATHA (1922/1930) 

CEREMONIAL MAGIC AND MYTH ( 1924) 

THE MEANING OF THIS LIFE (1927) 

MORE LIGHT (1921/1936) 

LIFE'S HIGHEST GOAL (1925) 

RESURRECTION (1926) 

WORLDS OF SPIRIT (1922) > with the Painting Cycle WORLDS 

PSALMS (1924) 

ON MARRIAGE (1925) 

ON PRAYER (1926) 

SPIRIT AND FORM (1924) 

SCINTILLAS 

22 GERMAN MANTRAS – THE USE OF MANTRAS (1922) 

WORDS OF LIFE (1923) 

ABOVE THE EVERYDAY ( 1934) 

REALITY ETERNAL (1934) 

LIVING IN ETERNAL LIGHT (1934) 

LETTERS TO ONE AND TO MANY (1935) 

GATED GARDEN – HORTUS CONCLUSUS (1936) 

After the spiritual textbook Hortus conclusus the following works were published:

THE REALM OF ART (1921/1933)

ENIGMAS OF THE NATURE'S INVISIBLE REALM (1923)

ABOUT MY BOOKS (1929)   >  Excerpt 

MY WORK AS A PAINTER (1932) 

CONCERNING MY NAME (1927)

ABOUT MY BOOKS (1929)

CODICIL TO THE HORTUS CONCLUSUS (1937) 

MISCELLANEA (1938)

ON GODLESSNESS (1939)

SPIRITUAL RELATIONSHIPS (1939)

GLEANINGS I AND II 

AN INTRODUCTION TO HIS WORK (2000)

BREVIARY TO THE HORTUS CONCLUSUS BY RUDOLPH SCHOTT 

THE PAINTING CYCLE WORLDS

I do not know how I could bring the essence

of these paintings closer to the viewer by "explanation",

 because if words could grasp what is pictured here,

 then I would not have created it in form and color.

 I can only say that everything which I reveal in these paintings

is real and natural for my inner vision,

 as any external object is real for my outer seeing;

 and I found people seeing the same with their inner eye,

 and were delighted to see an artistic reproduction.

– WORLDS OF SPIRIT



The cycle of paintings Worlds is comprised of 20 works and belongs to the book Worlds of Spirit (Welten).

We do not have better pictures. However, the majority of the painting cycle Worlds can be printed in high quality, and even purchased as a replica from Kober-Verlag.

Click on the images to enlarge or minimize, using the corresponding zoom control on your device.

About the period of the creation of the painting series Worlds: In the second (1960) and third (1997) edition of his book, 'The Painter Bô Yin Râ', Rudolf Schott writes about the paintings: "Bô Yin Râ painted these works in Görlitz (around 1920 to 1922) both for himself and those close to him who understood." (p. 126). This information was valid for many decades.

According to the most recent research in Görlitz, the latest time of completion can be dated to May 1921, as in this month there was an exhibition of the Jacob Böhme Association (Jakob-Böhme-Bund) in Görlitz, part of which was the Worlds series. (source: Publishing house Magische Blätter April 2020, S. 137ff)

In the book 'My Work As A Painter', by Bô Yin Râ, one can see that his first spiritual paintings were already in
the world, even before Expressionism existed. (p. 44) In his article published in the Görlitz gazette on June 5th, 1921 (source: Publishing house Magische Blätter April 2020, p. 140) about the exhibition mentioned above,
Bô Yin Râ refers directly to the majority of the Worlds series. And he included a similar statement in the preface of the book Worlds (1922) as well.

If the start of Expressionism is dated to the time that the artist community 'Die Brücke' (The Bridge) was established in 1905, then only the first years of the century remain as the possible time frame within which these spiritual paintings originated. Another indication is given in an obituary written about Max Klinger, the German artist (source: review II, Kober-Verlag, p. 63ff), who died on July 4th, 1920. There Bô Yin Râ writes that he had met him for the first time fifteen years prior (i.e. in 1905) and stated that the first spiritual paintings already existed at this time, even if Bô Yin Râ only showed them to Klinger in a later meeting. Finally, there was another newspaper article found from 1921 with evidence that Worlds was already twenty years old (source: Publishing house Magische Blätter April 2020, p. 232f).

Amazingly, Schott himself wrote in the first edition (1927) of the book referred to above, which Bô Yin Râ still could go through: "Bô Yin Râ painted most of these compositions a long time ago – some almost a quarter of a century ago – ..." We can be assured that the majority of the Worlds paintings evolved soon after the beginning of the twentieth Century, with the first, still hidden writings of the spiritual textbook (Hortus conclusus and The Path of My Pupils, final chapters). In addition the pentagonal signature visible today on all Worlds paintings with the initials of his spiritual name – that he only received 1912/1913 in Greece – must have been added, in most cases, retrospectively. In fact, even the illustrations in the first edition (1922) of the book Worlds do not have this pentagonal signature.

In the Magische Blätter (source: November 2022, p. 28ff) we learn from the Swedish Bô Yin Râ Foundation that the painting cycle Worlds was sold "around 1920" to Sweden. In spring 1952 they arrived in Switzerland, where they are to this day. In 1956, the 2nd edition of Worlds was published by Kober Publishing house with new illustrations. From the biographical data of the artist it can be concluded that he never saw the Worlds paintings again after the Görlitz exhibition in May 1921.

The cited Magische Blätter (Magic Paper) are available here.

* * *

Finally, however, it should not be overlooked, that all the biographical data on these pages is irrelevant for understanding the books and paintings; as far as one aims at an internalization comparable to the intake of food which one takes in order to feel its effect and not in order to analyze its ingredients.

In this comparison with the food the external information given here would be the packaging – however not with the intention to describe the content, but to point to it that one finds it!

This biographical information serves its purpose by inviting you to discover it, and, for those who do not yet know the author and painter, to check whether you want to eat the 'food' or not. It is also for those for whom
Bô Yin Râ's work has become a companion in life and whose interest may at some point turn towards the author's earthly path. Although this is not 'necessary'. May it let you relive how his work came into the world without a laborious search for information.

CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ

A specific focus of the Foundation is the creation of a Catalogue Raisonné, especially of the pictorial works. As far as we know a complete works catalogue does not yet exist and shall contain all the writings published by the author and all art works by the hand of the artist.

The primary aim of the Catalogue Raisonné is to preserve the work itself – as complete and as true to the original as possible. It is therefore not just a list of works but, above all, an archive that includes its many reproductions in text and image. This comprehensive list will grow as the project progresses and we will report on this.

Bô Yin Râ created spiritual paintings for meditation in inner calm and seclusion.

The following paintings have been digitized by the Bô Yin Râ Foundation and we are making them – the landscapes and especially the spiritual paintings – available for meditative viewing on the screen and for downloading.

However, the accuracy of the high-quality images of the emerging artwork archive, each 1.4-2.2 GB in size, can not be measured on screen. On conventional screens, one would not recognize any advantage over the original data in full screen mode compared to the web files color depth and resolution. This is due to the limitation in 8-bit color depth, the lower resolution, and especially the lack of color calibration on conventional screens.

The inner peace and seclusion mentioned at the beginning can be achieved more easily with the tangible, 'real' paintings for most of us, than on a computer, which tends to demand its own attention.

We are therefore pleased that these paintings can now be offered as high-quality fine art prints by the 

German Publishing house Magische Blätter. There you will find more information about the prints. Only the price charged by the executing company for the printing and shipping will be billed. The Bô Yin Râ Foundation provides the fine art prints free of charge.

With these fine art prints you can be assured that the attention to color and other details will look like the artist intended.

Although the permanent replication of the art works is the key motivation for the establishment of the Artwork Archive, there is no reason not to display the 'apparent' paintings on the screen, in order to choose an individual art print.

You can view or download higher resolution photos by clicking the image. Usually, you can switch to full screen mode (and back) with the function key F11 for PC or ctrl-cmd-F for MAC, whereby all disturbing accessories on the screen disappear.

The specified dimensions refer to height x width, measured in cm and refer to the original size of the painting.

The lecture mentioned in the text Symbolform und Wirklichkeit in den Bildern von Bô Yin Râ (Symbolic Form and Reality Itself in the Paintings of Bô Yin Râ) as well as in the books Der Maler Bô Yin Râ (The Painter
Bô Yin Râ) and Griechenlandskizzen (Sketches of Greece) by Rudolf Schott are available at Kober-Verlag.

DRAWINGS

AUS DEM TRAUMLAND (From Dreamland)

Click on individual image to view full size.

Dimensions of Drawings:

1. Dreamer and Realist 16,1 x 14,9

2. The Self-Tormentors 19,1 x 15,8

3. Tired Souls 16,1 x 16,4

4. The Quietest Path 16,8 x 16,5

5. The Path of the Accomplished 17,0 x 17,7

6. The White Path 17,1 x 16,9

7. Doubt 18,2 x 16,9

8. At the Dream Source 16,9 x 18,2

9. In the Land of the Safest 16,6 x 15,2

10. Infinite Joke 14,1 x 13,4

Date Taken: April 24th 2022

'From Dreamland' is a cycle of 10 (most likely) ink pen drawings, which have been reproduced and published in 1906 by the Berliner Verlag, together with preface and table of contents.
The reproduction of the pictures shown here, however, were neither from the original drawings nor the portfolio from 1906, but photographic images from the 1920s at the earliest, as a paper analysis revealed. The white photographic papers are glued with their upper edge to a DINA4 cardboard, all together inserted into a folder in the same color as the cardboard.

It is astonishing that this 'result of the night' came into being at the same time as the first spiritual paintings and with the first writing of the textbooks, as can be read from the text below the Worlds paintings, see above. In the obituary for Max Klinger from 1920 quoted there, Bô Yin Râ writes, "that I nevertheless only dared to appear in public with two portfolio works [note: From Dreamland, Phantasies] of purely symbolic content at that time [note: 1906] and did not make myself noticed with my colour-symbolic [note: spiritual] works ...".
Drawings of a similar nature still appeared in the journal "Der Türmer" (Magische Blatter July 2022, p. 335 and p. 337). 

Also in his autobiographical book 'Aus meiner Malerwerkstatt' (My Work as a Painter), published in 1932, they are not concealed, but their significance is put into perspective: "... I also tried at times to give shape to many a more

p o e t i c  mood in series of black-and-white drawings. But such things were always overcome and eradicated in me within a very short time, even if they had brought me relatively more recognition and encouragement than my inherent striving for an 'i m a g e' that was completely at peace with itself, resolved  o n l y  in the spiritual values of its forms and colors."

EXLIBRIS CRAMER-KLETT

Dimensions of Drawing: 10,0 x 7,5
Sheet Size: 14,1 x 10,5

Date Taken: April 27th 2022

An ex libris (book owner's mark) is a piece of paper glued into a book to identify the owner. Bookplates appeared soon after the invention of the printing press and inspired compositions and designs by well-known artists over the centuries. According to the introductory of the bookplates collection of the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, the most comprehensive collection of its kind in the world with about 49,000 entries experienced their first blossoming from the end of the 15th to the 17th century. The golden age, however, was the years 1890–1925, and here again Hans Thoma and Max Klinger are mentioned first as artists who set standards in ex libris design, both of whom had a personal relationship with Bô Yin Râ.



This bookplate is listed there under the number 40610.

Note: The drawing is also suitable for a double-size print.

EXLIBIRIS KRAUS

Dimensions: 10,1 x 7,6
Sheet Size: 14,1 x 10,5
Date Taken: December 6th 2021

This ex libris is described in the bookplate directory of the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz under the number 10027, thus confirming the author. There is also a monogram by the artist in the lower left corner. In 1906, Bô Yin Râ published the sequence 'Fantasies' through the Berlin publishing house Wilhelm Kraus, consisting of 20 symbolic pen drawings, and one can assume that this ex libris was also made at about this time.

Note: The drawing is also suitable for two- to threefold enlargement. (In the reproduction of this print an ink spot has been retouched outside of the drawing at the top left. Here is the unretouched original for comparison.)

Dimensions: 35 x 29
Date Taken: December 6th 2021

This drawing by the 16-year-old from 1893 at the beginning of his training at the Städelsche Kunstinstitut in Frankfurt is the earliest known work by the artist, that we know of. In terms of technical implementation, it appears to be black and white chalk on light brown cardboard. The name E.v. Steinle, presumably the one illustrated, was applied afterwards with a pencil.

Dimensions: 23 x 32
Date Taken: December 6th 2021

Melchior Lechter was born in Münster in 1865, and, apart from several trips, lived as a visual artist in Berlin since 1884. Key focus areas of his work were graphics and glass windows.
Some experts who like to divide art into categories ascribe his works, like those of Max Klinger, to symbolism.
A closer acquaintance with the young Joseph Anton Schneider during his time in Berlin, as the affection of his collection suggests, has not yet been mentioned anywhere, as far we know.

This pencil drawing is also unknown. It was only acquired in the 1990s by a Munich collector from the estate of Melchior Lechter in Capri, and in November 2021 went from Hunsrück to an auction. From there it then went back again to its place of origin, Berlin, where it is now accessible to a larger audience for the first time. The name of the drawing has not been passed on, and the one given here is only intended to state the obvious without any further interpretation.

Upon close inspection, some will notice the double shadows of every tree, every bush. One shadow falls on the island, the other into the sea. Those who are looking for a symbolic, hidden meaning in the drawing may find a starting point in this observation.

Note: Four spots were subsequently retouched in this reproduction, all outside the pencil frame. The brown spots are mold stains in the paper. Here the original for comparison.

SECULAR PAINTINGS

Dimensions: 60 x 90
Date Taken: November 16th 2020

Caption on the frame is by Bô Yin Râ himself: Joseph Schneiderfranken Wald im Riesengebirge

In Rudolf Schott's book 'Der Maler Bô Yin Râ' (The Painter Bô Yin Râ), the picture is only called 'Im Riesengebirge' (in the Giant Mountains). According to the newspaper Niederschlesischer Zeitung, dated 12 August, 1919, the picture was exhibited, together with others, in the memorial hall in Görlitz (Germany), on

August 11, 1919 (source: Publishing house Magische Blätter, March 2021, p.179). In the newspaper article it is also referred to as Wald im Riesengebirge. This has prompted us to publish it again under its original name.

DER FELSENQUELL (The Rock Spring)

Dimensions: 49 x 58
Date Taken: November 16th 2020

The frame on which the canvas is mounted bears the signature 'Joseph Schneiderfranken' and the words Bô Yin Râ, Der Felsenquell – the latter, however, is unlikely Bô Yin Râ's own handwriting. The name of the painting likely comes from Bô Yin Râ himself.

At the lower edge of the picture, especially, one can see the red priming of the canvas, which is rare to Bô Yin Râ, and which shines through in many places, particularly in the area of the waterfall.

The location of the motif has not yet been identified. Because of the cypress, the barren rocks – rather atypical for Germany – and what we know of the places visited by Bô Yin Râ, one could assume it was Greece or Italy. We only know of one painting from Ticino (Switzerland).

The word 'rock spring' appears only twice in all of Bô Yin Râ's writings, once in the sense of a source of wisdom in the Book of Love (Das Buch der Liebe), and another time in the chapter 'Santo Spirito' (Holy Spirit) from the book, The Secret (Das Geheimnis). The location of the books’ plot revolves around the Gulf of Naples, an area visited during his trip to Italy in 1922. However, the description of the rock spring occurring here does not quite match the one in the painting. Rather, the scene described in the book is far more reflective, portraying his ascent to the mountain monastery: "in blazing sun and without a view of shady trees", "shamelessly exposed to the overly bright southern sunlight".

MEERLANDSCHAFT MIT SEGELBOOT (Ocean Landscape With Sailing Boat)

Dimensions: 13 x 19
Date Taken: October 7th 2021

This little sketch is already known from Rudolf Schott's book 'Griechenlandskizzen' (Sketches of Greece), which contains 22 sketches in their original size and in high quality. According to the detailed introduction, the Greece sketches 1912/1913 were worked on-site, "with the intention of being developed later into larger-format landscapes". Because of the painter's numerous obligations, it often unfortunately didn't happen, probably also in this case.

ABEND AUF KORFU (Evening In Corfu)

Dimensions: 60 x 100
Date Taken: November 18th 2020

The name of the picture, Abend auf Korfu is written on the frame on which the canvas is mounted and as a result is regarded as the original name.

DELPHI (2)

Dimensions: 75 x 85
Date Taken: November 18th 2020

The painting has been given this name because no other is known.



A very similar picture exists, but in smaller dimensions, and is quite possibly the sketch for this larger painting. The ordinal number 2 has therefore been added to it, to distinguish between the two. A preliminary drawing with black pen is visible under the painting. The painting is in the same condition since its creation and was only cleaned before its digitization. Thanks to the cleaning the fine colour nuances are once again visible, previously hidden under heavy surface contamination.

The painting shows the area of the Apollo Shrine in Delphi, seen from the outskirts of the village. The small building is the restored Athenian Treasury. The ruins of the temple of Apollo with its oracle of Delphi can be
seen behind it. At that time, above the entrance of this holy temple was the inscription "Know thyself!", which
Bô Yin Râ quotes in both his book Worlds (Welten) and the Book Of The Royal Art (Das Buch der Königlichen Kunst). The information given by the author suggests that the encounter described in the chapter Magic (Magie)  from the Book Of Conversation (Das Buch der Gespräche) took place here.

FRÜHLINGSTAG AM GOLF VON ARGOS (Spring Day On The Gulf Of Argos)

Dimensions: 75 x 105
Date Taken: November 16th 2020

The name of the painting is written in Bô Yin Râ's handwriting on the back of the stretch frame and therefore seems authentic.

If you were to walk south from Nauplia (pronounced Nafplio in modern Greek) to Arvanitia beach and continue up the Gulf, i.e. to the south-east along the footpath towards Karathona beach, you would pass the location where the painter was positioned.

Note: Today the original has some vertical streaks on the horizontal watercolour layers, but these were digitally reduced in the photograph, with the least possible interference to the image. These vertical lines happened later and are not part of the original painting. This offers a visual comparison of the original painting (i.e. without the touch-up) on the date it was taken.

Rest assured no digital retouching has been carried out on any other painting without notice. 

ASKLEPIEION ZU ATHEN (2) (Asklepieion In Athens 2)

Dimensions: 76 x 86
Date Taken: June 23th 2021

The pictured Asklepieion in Athens is on the southern slope of Athens Acropolis, with the Philopappos hill in the background. Schott’s book 'The Painter Bô Yin Râ', from which the name of the painting has been taken (appended with the number 2 to distinguish it) contains an in-depth study and analysis of this painting, to which very little can be added. 

A painting of an Asklepieion – without a location – was on display at the Görlitz Art Exhibition in August 11th, 1919, to which a newspaper article at that time (Magische Blätter, March 2021, p. 179) attests. It can be assumed that it was this same painting, since no other Asklepieion work by Bô Yin Râ is known, and the exhibition of the study is unlikely. 

In 1929 it was acquired by Prince Heinrich zu Schaumburg-Lippe, who was personally acquainted with
Bô Yin Râ (Magische Blätter, December 2020, p. 211). The painting was said to then be housed in Madrid, and only in June 2021 was it seen again in public at an auction in Berlin. Although it was auctioned under the name 'The Ruins of Kos' (this would also be an Asklepieion) we consider this as the true location to be unlikely due to information presented in Schott's book, and the artist's previously known whereabouts.

The painting's signature is also remarkable, because the year 1913 is the earliest a clearly datable picture with his full spiritual name appears. Bô Yin Râ himself informed us in the text 'Concerning My Name', that he only drew with his full spiritual name for the first time when The Book of the Living God appeared, which was at the beginning of 1919, the assumption of a subsequent signature seems likely, perhaps due to the occasion of the Görlitz exhibition.

PHALERON

Dimensions: 19 x 26
Date Taken: October 7th 2021

The bay of Phaleron (today Paleo Faliro), six kilometers southwest of Athens Acropolis, housed the port of Athens at the time Greek mythology was originating. A map comparison suggests that this is the view to west. At the back of the obeserver is Cape Kolias (today Agios Kosmas), in the area in which Rudolph Schott located another painting in his book 'Der Maler Bô Yin Râ' (The Painter Bô Yin Râ). Behind the dark blue headland would be today's port of Piraeus and in the lighter blue one can see the mountains of the island Salamis.

The sunset glow – the combination of sunlight with earth dust and water vapor – seems to blaze like flames if you look longer. This composition of fire, water, earth and air forms, as it as were, a sea of fire between heaven and earth.

MONDAUFGANG ÜBER DELOS (Moonrise Over Delos)

Dimensions: 60 x 84
Date Taken: November 16th 2020
On the back of the frame Bô Yin Râ has written in blue:

Mondaufgang über Delos (Moonrise over Delos)

Made in 1913 Schneider-Franken

The original name and date are therefore assured.

If it is a moonrise then the viewing direction must be towards the east. Immediately west of Delos is the uninhabited island of Rhenia – in the past included as part of Delos. However, the island is much too close to Delos for this perspective to be accurate, and therefore is an unlikely option also because of the island’s poor accessibility. The painter's location can thus only be Syra (Syros in modern Greek). There are at least two other paintings that show the identical mountain range in daylight as the backdrop.

FARBHOLZSCHNITTE VON YOSHIJIRÔ URUSHIBARA (Color Woodblock Prints by Yoshijirô Urushibara)

Date Taken: August 19th 2022

These color woodblock prints by the Japanese artist and printmaker Yohsijirô Urushibara (1888-1953) are based on motifs from Bô Yin Râ's paintings, and are signed by both artists. The prints of a printing block, which may differ noticeably in color tone and intensity, were numbered consecutively.

Although in the narrow sense the woodblock prints do not belong to Bô Yin Râ's work, but because Bô Yin Râ mentions them by name in his book, 'Aus meiner Malerwerkstatt' (My Work as a Painter) (p. 27), they may be of interest to some. Bô Yin Râ writes:

"My painting: Abend im Spessart (Evening in Spessart), that the London based Japanese Urushibara translated into the ancient Japanese technique of color woodblock print, reproduced in his own style, and which has undoubtedly remained the most  f a i t h f u l  of his reproductions of my paintings up to now, belonged to the series of these first works that I have tried to describe here. (In the meantime, I have created two variations of the same theme, but in which I have given greater rights to the structure of the painting through the areas of the brushstrokes.)"

You can find more about Yoshijirô Urushibara and his collaboration with Bô Yin Râ in the Magische Blätter, January 2021 issue, p. 375; more about the painting, Abend in Spessart in the April 2021 issue, p. 310.

PAINTINGS FOR MEDITATION

Bô Yin Râ created spiritual paintings for meditation in inner calm and seclusion.

Words from Bô Yin Râ himself:

... shall the contemplation awaken  s o u n d  and  r h y t h m  in the soul.

–WORLDS

SPIRITUAL PAINTINGS

SCHÖPFUNGSKLÄNGE (Sounds Of Creation)

Dimensions: 62 x 52
Date Taken: November 17th 2020

On the back of the frame the name of the painting is written in Bô Yin Râ’s own handwriting, thus we know its title was given by the artist himself. The painting is discussed in the book 'Der Maler Bô Yin Râ' (The Painter
Bô Yin Râ) by Rudolf Schott.

WELTENFRÜHE (Dawn Of Worlds)

Dimensions: 95 x 65
Date Taken: November 16th 2020

You can find more about the painting in the book 'Der Maler Bô Yin Râ' (The Painter Bô Yin Râ) by Rudolf Schott.

LOGOS

Dimensions: 105 x 75
Date Taken: November 17th 2020

The name of the painting is in Bô Yin Râs handwriting, together with his signature, on the back of the frame, therefore we know it was named by the artist himself. The painting is discussed in the book 'Der Maler Bô Yin Râ' (The Painter Bô Yin Râ) by Rudolf Schott.

DAS ERWACHEN DER SEELE (The Awakening Of The Soul)

Dimensions: 44 x 44
Date Taken: December 8th 2022
The name of the painting is passed down by word of mouth, but does not necessarily have to come from the painter. Here you can see one of the few spiritual paintings, that had not been published before the shoot.

KOSMISCHES ERKENNEN (Cosmic Awareness)

Dimensions: 62,5 x 52,5
Date Taken: August 19th 2022

This painting reached Brazil in 1932 after being sold by the artist under the aforementioned name, initially in Rio de Janeiro. For almost 100 years, its existence was only known through an obscure black-and-white photograph. In 2019, it was acquired from the hands of the granddaughter of the first purchaser in São Paulo and is now privately owned in Germany. After a successful restoration, it now shows itself again in its full colorfulness.

MAGISCHE MÄCHTE (Magical Powers)

Dimensions: 60 x 50
Date Taken: November 17th 2020

Bô Yin Râ has also recorded this painting’s name, together with his signature, on the back of the frame.

UNIO MYSTICA

Dimensions: 105 x 75
Date Taken: November 18th 2020

The name of the painting has been given to us by the artist in the same way as with the above, Magical Powers.

VERMÄHLUNG (Marriage)

Dimensions: 65 x 55
Date Taken: November 18th 2020

The painting is simply titled 'Spiritual Painting' in the frame, but not in the painter’s handwriting.

The title previously given was 'The Jewel', but also 'Wedding' or 'Marriage'. The name Vermählung is a suggestion by the German Bô Yin Râ Foundation.

Bô Yin Râ painted the picture as a wedding gift for a couple who were friends, but the parcel got lost and arrived at the young couple only after a delay of five years!

WEIHENACHT (*referring to Christmas)

Dimensions: 48 x 48
Date Taken: March 10th 2021

In his lecture 'Symbolform und Wirklichkeit in den Bildern von Bô Yin Râ' (Symbolic Form and Reality Itself in the Paintings of Bô Yin Râ) Rudolf Schott suspects Weihenacht is the only picture that belongs to both, the secular and the spiritual realms. This assumption is supported by the signature in the form of a pentagon, which combines the initials of the spiritual and birth name of the artist and which otherwise only appears on spiritual paintings.

* The word Weihenacht is referring to Christmas (Weihnacht) and may also be read as 'Night of Consecration', the word 'Weihe' means consecration in German.

All paintings shown here can be ordered as fine art prints at Magische Blätter Publishing house.

CALL

There are some paintings whose titles are unknown or uncertain and the pictures themselves are of poor quality. Other works have been lost or are privately owned, where the owners do not know their details either. Other owners, understandably, prefer to remain anonymous precisely because they know the uniqueness and value of their respective piece. Particularly when it comes to existing and potentially yet undiscovered spiritual paintings, there is a real desire to make them more accessible to larger groups of people than has previously been done, such as for contemplation or meditation.

After some preparation the German Bô Yin Râ Foundation was able to start with the Artwork Archive and digitize the paintings listed below – and thus the Catalogue Raisonné was commenced. From professional transport, restoration support to digitization and printing, the process chain has been tested and has proven successful and could therefore be repeated when necessary in future.

The time is right, and we look forward to the moment where each private owner uses the opportunity to safeguard their painting by digitizing it and thereby preserving it for the future. We are grateful to all those who are bringing this information and its appeal to the attention of private owners, as well as the request by the Foundation for any information of works that might appear in the art trade world.

If you are interested in supporting the Artwork Archive or you have further questions you are welcome to
contact us. Your anonymity is guaranteed, and all correspondence will remain confidential.

Last but not least, for each one who cares about the painter's work, and does not belong to the few who have access to an original painting, there is another easy way to support the protection of the paintings and the completion of the Catalogue Raisonné: The above-mentioned process for the continuation of the digitization of the paintings and the publication of the results is only possible with donations. If you want to make yourself and other readers happy this way, feel welcome to visit Support of our Foundation.