ART OF KYOTO

Gallery

Byobu Screens

God of Wind, God of Thun­der, 2008

Method: Kyo-hanga
Painter:TAWARAYA Sôtatsu
Period: Edo, 17th Cen­tury
Owner: Kennin-ji Tem­ple, Head Tem­ple of the Kennin-ji School, Rin­zai Bud­dhism
Des­ig­na­tion: National Treasure

Descrip­tion:
Each God, hold­ing his attribute, a rod for thun­der, left, and bil­low­ing fab­ric for wind, right, gives us an impres­sion of mov­ing, tur­bu­lent air. In ancient India, peo­ple wor­shipped the God of Wind to wish for healthy chil­dren and the God of Thun­der for a rich har­vest. Gold leaf applied by Hiroto Rakusho to Japan­ese washi paper on a pair of two fold­ing screens.

Flow­er­ing Plants of Autumn, 2008

Method: Kyo-hanga
Painter: TAWARAYA Sôsetsu
Period: Edo, 17th Cen­tury
Owner:Tokyo National Museum
Des­ig­na­tion: Impor­tant Cul­tural Property

Descrip­tion:
This paint­ing depicts clus­ters of flow­ers and plants rep­re­sent­ing autumn; white chrysan­the­mum, sil­ver grass, bush clover, and bell­flower. Japan’s over 1200-year-old clas­si­cal sense of beauty, is spec­tac­u­larly expressed. Space, col­or­ful depic­tions and smooth lines are effec­tively used to pro­duce the breadth of a limpid autumn field and cre­ate the serene, but richly expres­sive atmos­phere as well. Gold leaf applied by Hiroto Rakusho to Japan­ese washi paper on a pair of six panel fold­ing screens.

Bugaku Dancers, 2008

Method: Kyo-hanga
Painter: KANÔ Tan­shin
Period: Edo, 17th Cen­tury
Owner: Zuishin-in Tem­ple, Head Tem­ple of the Zentsû-ji School, Shin­gon Buddhism

Descrip­tion:
BUGAKU is a com­bi­na­tion of dance and music played at the Impe­r­ial Court. In the 17th cen­tury, per­for­mances were done topray for bumper crops, sound health or to wel­come guests from afar. It has a tra­di­tion that is more than 1000-years old, as indi­cated in the NIHON SHOKI, the old­est his­tory book in Japan, and also has his­toric value and artis­tic qual­ity as one of the world’s old­est music and­dance forms. Gold leaf applied by Hiroto Rakusho to Japan­ese washi paper on a sin­gle six panel fold­ing screen.

Flow­ing Plants of Sum­mer and Autumn, 2008

Mathod: Kyo-hanga
Painter: SAKAI Hôitsu
Period: Edo, 18th Cen­tury
Owner: Tokyo National Museum
Des­ig­na­tion: Impor­tant Cul­tural Property

Descrip­tion:
This is a mas­ter­piece of SAKAI Hôitsu. The right screen has sum­mer plants hit by a heavy shower and a stream of water caused by sud­den rain; while the left, has autumn plants and ivy in autumn col­ors, blown by a strong wind. Sil­ver leaf applied by Hiroto Rakusho to Japan­ese washi paper
on a pair of two panel fold­ing screens.

Kabuki Drama, 2008

Method: Kyo-hanga
Painter: HISHIKAWA Moronobu
Period: Edo, 17th Cen­tury
Owner: Tokyo National Museum
Des­ig­na­tion: Impor­tant Cul­tural Property

Descrip­tion:
A the­ater includ­ing its entrance, stage, and audi­ence
is pic­tured on the right screen, its back­stage and a tea­house are on the left, and 285 ener­getic peo­ple are painted in detail on both. This was painted dur­ing the begin­ning of the Edo Shogu­nate (Gov­ern­ment), which was a tran­si­tion period to peace after long civil wars. At this time when the future was still uncer­tain, peo­ple
became enthu­si­as­tic about a newly for­mal­ized KABUKI per­for­mance that pre-defined the sig­nif­i­cance of omis­sions, exag­ger­a­tions, and many of the actors’ move­ments. Gold leaf applied by Hiroto Rakusho to Japan­ese washi paper on a pair of six panel fold­ing screens.