Details

In Rokuhara Enjo, Yoshitoshi Mori conjures a fierce, almost mythic vision of destruction drawn from the famous Heike Monogatari, Japan’s great medieval epic of war, loyalty, and downfall. Flames in searing hues of red and orange tear through the intricate black lattice of rooftops and surrounding trees, the dense patterning giving the scene a suffocating intensity. Amidst the swirling conflagration, the faint structure of a pagoda rises — fragile, momentary, caught between survival and annihilation. Mori’s dynamic composition, with its flowing forms and compressed energy, channels both the visual power of traditional Japanese narrative painting and the expressive freedom of modern design.

Created in 1973, this stencil print belongs to Mori’s celebrated body of work retelling episodes from The Tale of the Heike, a text that resonated deeply with him for its portraits of impermanence and the tragic beauty of defeat. Here, the burning of the Rokuhara headquarters — a crucial episode signaling the Taira clan’s fall — becomes not just historical illustration but a visceral, almost abstract meditation on chaos and loss. Mori’s deft handling of layered color and bold negative space allows the image to transcend its historical moment, speaking to universal cycles of rise and ruin.

Connoisseur's Note

Yoshitoshi Mori was a master of kappazuri-e, the traditional Japanese stencil technique, which he elevated to new expressive heights. Working entirely by hand, Mori cut and layered stencils to apply pigments directly to the paper in a process that emphasized both spontaneity and precision. His compositions vibrate with an immediacy that sets them apart from conventional woodblock prints. Rokuhara Enjō, with its vivid palette and dense, animated surfaces, exemplifies Mori’s ability to transform historical material into a living, breathing visual language.

This impression, numbered 23/50, comes from a very limited edition — typical of Mori’s practice, which favored small, meticulously crafted runs over mass production. Collectors value Rokuhara Enjo not only for its technical brilliance but for its emotional depth and historical resonance. In Mori’s hands, the story of the Heike is not merely retold; it is reanimated, its ancient sorrows and fierce glories given new life through the vibrancy of line, color, and the artist’s own indelible hand.