Heirinji Temple Bell
Artist
Yoshida, Toshi
(Japanese, 1911–1995)
Date1951
Mediumwoodblock print, ink and color on paper
ClassificationsPrints
Markingsseal: Yoshida Toshi
Credit LineGift from the Judith and Paul A. Falcigno Collection
Object number2010.64
Label TextWhile producing abstract prints in the early 1950s, Toshi also continued to issue striking seasonal landscape prints that showed his skillful interpretation of Western watercolors and oil techniques into the woodblock medium. In this print a young monk strikes the temple bell (bonsho) of Heirinji temple, with a wooden log. The resonant sound of a temple bell is said to purify the mind and inspire meditation. As shown in this print, the gardens of Heirinji are cherished in early spring for their “drooping cherry” (shidare-zakura) blossoms. In autumn they are visited for their colorful maple foliage. Situated on the outskirts of Tokyo, the temple grounds preserve a stretch of the Musashino woodlands, where animals, such as Japanese crows and the presently rare tanuki (raccoon dogs), still find refuge.
Heirinji, a temple of the Rinzai Zen sect, was first established in 1375. In 1590 the temple was destroyed during the attack on Iwatsuki Castle by the feudal warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537–1598). It was rebuilt in 1603 in Niiza city, Saitama, by the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543–1616).ProvenancePaul A. Falcigno and Judy Mansfield, Hamden, CTOn View
Not on view
