Details

A master of black and white compositions, it is surprising that Hiratsuka's early work featured color designs. This print is among the artist's most celebrated early colored compositions. The design places the viewer high above the Rakanji temple complex, in the adjacent mountainous cliffs. The composition features the temple rooftops as well as the bellhouse nestled into the mountain at the left. The soft pale blue silhouette of a summit appears at the far right of the design, while the same blue is used in the long streaks of rain that break through the composition. The design showcases a poetic simplicity for the austere ruggedness of the mountain monastery and the profoundness available in the stillness of each moment.

Connoisseur's Note

This design was executed in 1935. It is among the artist's earliest works produced in a relatively larger scale. As is the case with all Hirastuka's work, this print was entirely self-directed—conceived, carved, and printed by the artist himself. The composition's varying textures showcase the artist's ease with carving and printing his own designs. The quiet simplicity of this design anticipates much of Hirastuka's future work.