A painter of small abstract works with underlying religious themes as well as illustrator and muralist, Mark Tobey remains known primarily for his "white writing" paintings that give the impression of being expansive and much larger than they actually are. Tobey is sometimes categorized with the Abstract Expressionists, but in fact he was isolated spiritually and physically from its New York founders because of his immersion in Asian religion and major time spent in Europe and the Pacific Northwest.

Encountering the Bahai World faith in 1918 and later Zen Buddhism was pivotal to Mark Tobey's life and work in which he expressed themes of oneness and progression. As a result of his obvious commitment to spiritual aspec...