Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu)
by Kawase Hasui
- Date:
- circa 1935
- Medium:
- Woodblock print; ink and color on paper
- Format:
- Oban
- Dimensions:
- 24.1 × 26.4 cm
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Edition:
- Published by Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Harvard Art Museums
Description
Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu), dated circa 1935, depicts the famous Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto — the gold-leaf covered pavilion built as a retirement villa by shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and converted to a Zen temple after his death — under falling evening snow that whitens the garden pond's edges and the surrounding pine forest. The golden pavilion's reflection in the Kyoko-chi mirror pond, combined with falling snow, creates one of the most visually striking combinations in Japanese landscape imagery: the pavilion's warm gold against the cold white accumulation, the reflection doubling the golden form in the darkening water. The circa 1935 date places this in Hasui's most technically assured period.
More Prints by Kawase Hasui
More Snow Scenes Prints
Fair Weather After Snow at Yamato Bridge, Kyoto (Yamato bashi no yukibare), Taishô period, dated 1924
Woodblock print
The Compound of the Tenman Shrine at Kameido in the Snow (Kameido Tenmangu keidai no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)"
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Miyajima in Snow (Yuki no Miyajima)
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Snow at Shiha Park, Tokyo
1932
Woodblock print
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu) was created by Kawase Hasui (川瀬巴水) in circa 1935.
Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu) uses Bokashi, on woodblock print; ink and color on paper.
Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (circa 1935).
Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu) depicts snow scenes, night scenes, and architecture.
Evening Snow at the Golden Pavilion (Kinkaku-ji no bosetsu) measures 24.1 × 26.4 cm (Oban format).