Heirin Temple, Nobidome
Artist: Kawase Hasui
Name: Heirin Temple, Nobidome
Date: 1952
Source: Honolulu Museum of Art
Description: A Zen temple of the Rinzai sect located in Saitama Prefecture, Heirinji was originally built in 1375. It was destroyed by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536-1598) in 1590 and rebuilt in 1603 by Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616), founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate that goverened Japan during the Edo period, marking the last shogunate before the Meiji Emperor was restored to power in 1868. It has been designated as a Japanese national monument. Hasui depicts the main wooden entrance of the temple complex in the shade. Following traditional precedents, Hasui provides a clear seasonal reference in the reddish-orange autumn foliage in the background. At the same time, the composition is modernized through the partial sunlight, which creates an illusion of moving patterns of shadows on the ground. This was a common device for prints published by Watanabe and can be found in the works of many artists who designed for him as he was developing the shin hanga style. (“Picturesque Prints: Traditional Japanese Woodblock Art in the 20th Century” 05/27/2010 – 08/1/2010)
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