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Richard Kirsten-Daiensai Obituary
Kirsten-Daiensai
April 16, 1920 ~ February 15, 2013
Richard Charles Kirsten was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Edith and Otto Kirsten. His father passed away when Richard was 12 years old, and the young boy took on many part-time jobs in addition to delivering newspapers to help support his mother and two sisters. Despite a heavy workload, Richard graduated from high school and went on to attend the Art Institute of Chicago with a scholarship. Upon completing his studies at the AIC in 1939, he decided to hitchhike to Seattle on his way to Alaska. Instead he met his future wife and studied art at the University of Washington.
Richard joined the U.S. Navy in 1942 and spent his entire service at the Naval Training Station in Great Lakes, Illinois, as a Specialist X Third Class teaching and illustrating art for the Navy.
Upon his honorable discharge, he and Elaine moved back to Seattle with their infant son. Richard immediately found two jobs, one at Rhodes Department store as a "window dresser" and one with the Kirsten Pipe Co. (no relation). In the years that followed he had many jobs working for Seattle City Light, Webster-Brinkley Co., Boeing, and the Catholic Northwest Progress newspaper. He started at the Seattle P-I newspaper in 1950 working in the Editorial Art Department, which he would eventually head, and worked there for the next 30 years.
In 1958, he took a trip to Japan to learn more about Japanese printmaking. He fell in love with the country and its culture and traveled there for the next 50 years, every year spending 2-6 months each trip. He wanted to paint while in Japan and chose to do so in Buddhist temples, doing work there in exchange for lodging. In 1967, he was ordained a Zen Buddhist priest and given the name Daiensai Kuden Bonseki Dojin. From that day on he signed all his paintings Kirsten-Daiensai. Shunning Tokyo he traveled to the most remote areas of Japan to paint in the temples, Sado Island being his favorite. Shortly after his ordination he became one of the very first Westerners to be licensed to professionally administer the I-Ching to clients in Japan.
In 1972 his son, Rick, opened the Kirsten Gallery in Seattle, and in the years that followed his father spent much of his spare time when not in Japan working at the gallery. The gallery took his art to the Seattle Home Show for over 30 years and the Northwest Flower & Garden Show for over 20 years, and it was at these venues that Richard Kirsten-Daiensai brought his art and love to the greater public. He loved greeting the thousands of people with his sparkling eyes, joyful smiles and firm handshake.
He loved the family summer cabin at Warm Beach where the extended family fished, crabbed, worked and played. We all thank him for trading a couple of paintings for a water-ski boat and motor. He loved the mountains as a skier and hiker.
He was a passionate, prolific artist. He had many one-man shows in Seattle, and his art graces thousands of homes in private collections. His art is in too many corporate collections to list here. He has many paintings in the permanent collection of the Seattle Art Museum. He is in the permanent collections of: The Library of Congress, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art in N.Y., the DeYoung Memorial Museum in San Francisco, and many other museums here and in Japan. He founded Artist Equity Association in Seattle, one of the very first organizations in the country started to protect artists' rights. He was a Life Member and past President of the Northwest Watercolor Society.
He wrote two books, "Smile 365 Happy Meditations" and "Love 365 Happy Meditations."
Richard was laid to rest in a private service with a Navy Honor Guard at Evergreen-Washelli on Feb. 23rd. He is survived by this wife of 71 years, Elaine, two sons, two sisters, three grandsons, and five great-grandsons. There will be a public memorial service "Celebrate Daiensai" at the Kirsten Gallery in Seattle on April 13, 2013, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm. For details please contact Rick Kirsten at [email protected] or see www.kirstengallery.com.
Remembrances may be made to Providence Hospice.
Sign Richard's on-line
Guest Book at www.Legacy.com.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Richard Kirsten-Daiensai
Sponsored by Rick & Kay Kirsten.
Judi Gibbs
March 13, 2025
I had the pleasure of knowing Daiensai, and I love the Daiensai paintings and print that I have hanging on my walls. I've got a meditational painting over my bed and over my work space. They will always be an important part of my life.
Jackie
March 12, 2025
Dear Richard, your little book 'Smile' remains my number one reminder that amidst the chaos of this world, peace is right here, even from a smile within a stone and beauty surrounds it with sacredness. Thank you for this gift.
Jackie Fraser
January 9, 2022
I offer my sympathy and bow with deep gratitude to Richard for the book entitled Smile which continues to inspire me and pick me up when I lose hope. May your art work continue to inspire others around the world.
Arohanui, much love.
Spencer Hatton
February 26, 2014
I miss you Daiensai
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July 14, 2013
Richard - for over fifty years you were a good and valued friend. I cling to thirty photos of your treasured work. See you soon. Jim Selvidge
Jackie Cort
June 28, 2013
Thank you for sharing your gifts and love with us all !! Xo
May 18, 2013
My mother purchased one of his paintings in the mid 1960's at an artists show near Innes Arden. I fell in love with it when I saw it . It is called "The Saint With The Golden Smile." It was painted before he became Daiensai. My mother passed in 1970 and I was given the painting because I loved it so much. It has brought me joy and hangs in a place of prominence in our home. It makes me smile daily. Thank you, Daiensai for your love and joy. Kim Midanik, Bend, OR
Robert Nickloff
May 11, 2013
I came to know Daiensai quite by accident or perhaps fate. I was working on location in New Mexico and on my day off wandered into a consignment shop in Santa Fe. I wasn't looking for anything in particular but spotted 2 wonderful paintings that were signed, Richard Kirsten, and had museum tags on the back from a show for "Northwest Artists" in Santa Barbara California. It also had an address for the artist. I decided to do a little investigating and discovered much to my delight and amazement that Richard Kirsten still lived in Seattle. After a phone call and subsequent correspondence I finally journeyed to meet Daiensai at his Gallery. I will always treasure my time with Daiensai and he will surely be missed by those who knew him. Daiensai was a light that shined brightly in this world to show the way to true happiness.
Gwen Nichols
May 5, 2013
I met the Daiensai a few years ago when a friend was interviewing him for a book
about aging successfully. The book was not completed but I got to hear all about the Daiensai's life, all the twists and turns that created a spectacular life and person. Suddenly he turned and said, "Look at her, she's a goddess!" Afterward we went to lunch and my friends wrote goddess on my take-out box. They still do and I'm reminded of the Daiensai every single time.
You know what love is?
It is all kindness, generosity.
Rumi wrote this anticipating the Daiensai. I'm sure of it!
My ode to Daiensai with deep love and respect,
Alexa Singer-Telles
April 26, 2013
Aki Sogabe
April 20, 2013
I miss you Daiensai Sensei very much.
Thank you for your wonderful works for sharing with us for many years.
I can see your warm smile in the sky now.
Stephanie
April 16, 2013
Much love and gratitude to Daiensai, always. At first here. Now there. Not gone. Always present. All ways in oneness, a laughing Buddha...
Courtney Carson
April 15, 2013
I walked into the Kirsten gallery in the winter of '97. I was 20 years old at the time I met Daiensai. He gave me a book called "Zen Seeds" He didn't charge me for the book. He always made such an impression on me with his generous shiny soul. The Kirsten family has always been so kind and open to me over the last 15 years I have been going to the gallery.His artwork brings joy & happiness to my heart!
April 12, 2013
April 12, 2013
The Secret of Succes is Being Happy as a Nobody
April 12, 2013
John 'Mugen' Brooks
April 12, 2013
In 1976 in a gallery in Edmonds, through a painting of a flower in a vase, Daiensai first touched my life. Though we were not to meet in person until his art show in May of 1997, in the ensuing years of deepening friendship we came to know that we had been good friends for many lifetimes.
Robert Bly once said that if one is lucky, later in life one will find a second father, a spiritual father. Daiensai came into my life at just such a time and our kokoro (heart) connection was a source of deep nourishment for us both. Through many, many written correspondences, visits at the gallery and at his homes, we shared poetry, art, and a Zen reverence for the mystical magic of everyday life. Those fifteen years of love, laughter, and twinkling eyes were a great Grace at the time and remain so. Love encompasses and pervades time and space, so for me there is nowhere he is not.
Daiensai once told me that his Zen master instructed him that his work in this life was to share and spread his enlightenment through his art and paintings. And so, like dandelion seeds carried by the wind, Daiensai's art has traveled far and wide over the years to sprout and grow in the hearts of his many friends around the world and, of late, to those who have come to find him through his precious books “Smile” and “Love”. This “ministry” found expression in a poem I wrote in 2005:
DAI – EN - SAI
Through images Transcendent,
grounded in their own hearts,
everyday people enter
the Great Circle
then touch the Void,
remember themselves,
feel happy.
Singing the song of the cricket
you call mortals home.
Dew drops quiver on the grass.
Arigatai!
Ah, yes. Somewhere, methinks, an old crow is laughing!
Marian Bruns
April 10, 2013
I first came into Daiensai's circle of love when working as aft purser on a flight from San Francisco to Tokyo. Because the non-stops from SEA to NRT had been discontinued at the time, karma brought us together. He was so diligent at keeping in touch - his correspondence from Japan was especially appreciated. And I did get to see him in person one more time - at a San Francisco Garden Show where he had brought some of his art work. Many of us will carry his spark in our lives for a long time.
My sincere condolences to his family -
Walk in the Light..........
Carolyn McManus
April 8, 2013
When I'd asked him how to best deal with all the crazy things going on in the world, without missing a beat, he replied "Meditate!!" So glad to have shared time with this bright and beautiful Spirit at his gallery and at Aegis. You are loved, Dear Daiensai.
Alan Gibbs
April 4, 2013
I first encountered Daiensai and his paintings at an art show in the Tri-Cities. The year was 1971, and I felt an immediate connection with his work. Over the years I have enjoyed many discussions with him, and have continued to appreciate his paintings, prints, sculpture and books. He leaves an enormous legacy that will continue to be appreciated for many years. It has been a privilege to know him, and I will miss him greatly.
Karen Hannegan
March 23, 2013
I was so fortunate to meet Richard Kirsten-Daiensai on my many visits to the Kirsten Gallery when I lived in Seattle. I loved talking with him; loved his artwork. What a long and wonderful life he lived!
Neil Hansen
March 22, 2013
He was an inspirational presence and a joy.
Pat Andrus
March 20, 2013
May Daiensai's light be with us forever.
Ken Lane, Jr
March 20, 2013
His love and caring for others was boundless. He will be missed.
March 19, 2013
Others paying tribute to Kirsten are younger than I, even Gordy Holt. As copy boy at 6th and Pine then at the 'new' building as a cub reporter I affirm over a lengthy period that Dick's nature was benevolent and Buddhist. His print (1/1) given me to give to my wife in 1955 has spent time in lives in three continents -- a constant reminder of constant peace.
Dan Alexander
Ken & Darlene Lane
March 19, 2013
What a special friend and neighbor.....
we miss him so.....
Ray Collins
March 19, 2013
I worked in the P-I art dept. with Dick Kirsten for 25 years. He always had a positive attitude and was very supportive of, and encouraging to, younger artists. It was a privilege to work with him, be inspired by him, and to know him. Peace be with you, Kabuki-san . . .
Jeff Lane
March 19, 2013
I am blessed that I grew up "across the street" from the Kirsten family. They have always been supportive of all charities as a youth growing up as well as patience and kindness throughout my life. Though they were "neighbors" we truly feel they are part of our family. "Mr. Kirsten" always would stop and talk with me no matter how busy he was, just because I said "Hi". His artwork is hanging at all of my family member homes, and he is already being missed in our material world, but his prescence is always around us. God speed "Kirsten-Daiensai".
Gordy Holt
March 18, 2013
Early in my P-I sports dept. days one of a rookie's tasks was to run a photo for retouching or a story that could use a cartoon into the art department. At the time Dick and Bob Cavanaugh were "tinkering" with a sculpting process known as lost wax, and because I hung around a lot and showed some interest they encouraged me to tinker along with them. They even acquired a slab of the stuff for me and said go to it, which I did for a while Then, one day, Dick and Cavanaugh and all the other artists save for Dave Horsey were gone. Incredibly, even now thinking back, Hearst had eliminated the paper's art department. I saw Dick rarely after than, and then at the Seattle Home Show not long before I retired (in 2007), I was on assignment looking for stories and wandering through the art exhibits when I walked by this wee Japanese fellow sitting cross-legged in a display of Japanese art. Whoa! That wasn't a wee Japanese fellow at all. It was Dick Kirsten wrapped up like a wee Japanese fellow.! Jeezus! Kirsten! How are ya? We shook hands and kind of hugged. He was an unforgettable character for certain, and like so much of his art, clearly a one-off.
Judi Gibbs
March 18, 2013
Sometimes there are no words to express feelings, and this is one of those times. I am blessed to have experienced Daiensai's work and his presence. I am at a loss for words to say more. What can anyone say that truly captures the spirit of the artist and the Zen priest who has so recently passed from us?
~Judi Gibbs, Seattle
Kristin Nelson
March 17, 2013
Dear Kirsten family,
Although, it has been many years since I spent time with Richard, Elaine, or many of their wonderful family members, I will always remember the special times that my family, and I had the fortune to share with them.
Love,
Kristin Nelson and Mike Dunphy
March 17, 2013
Dear Kirsten Family,
I am very fortunate to include Richard and Elaine as friends in my life. I will miss Richard; he was a kindred spirit. I will always remember his kind smile and voice.
With Love,
Kristin Nelson and Mike Dunphy
Ruth Petersky
March 17, 2013
I have corresponded with Richard over twenty-five years and we enjoy some of his works at our home. Our condolences for an inspiring artist.
"Enjoy, Enjoy / For Life is Given to Us / Only / Moment by Moment."
Joy Crockett
March 17, 2013
Nancy Grigsby
March 17, 2013
One of the treasures in my life was the opportunity to have Richard Kirsten-Daiensai walk my way for the briefest of times. Kirsten Gallery was hosting the Northwest Watercolor Society's 2005 Waterworks (members') exhibition of which I was chair. All told, I probably spent 30 minutes talking with this amazingly wonderful, kind, gentle man who left his mark on my heart. There are hundreds, probably thousands like me who had a whisper of an encounter with Richard Kirsten-Daiensai. We are all the better for it. Until we meet again and have more than 30 minutes, I wish you glorious joy and love.
sue bull
March 17, 2013
I am in love with the works of Richard Kirsten that my mother was smart enough to purchase early in his career. My favorites are a stampede of horses with what looks like black ink on natural material"paper" about 36"x 18" and a small owl he "painted" with a blow -torch device wiith a paint/wax mixture. My mom Jo Small appreciated his support of Seattle's Pratt Institute.
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