Hi No Kami — the Fire God, the Shinto deity of the hearth and forge, also identified with the sun's purifying heat — appears in this 1937 print among Munakata's extraordinary burst of sacred imagery from that year. The fire deity as subject gave Munakata the opportunity to render divine energy in its most dynamic, consuming form: the god of fire is inherently a subject of movement, heat, and transformation, all qualities that his vigorous carving style could embody with exceptional immediacy. The figure would emerge from the woodblock with the erupting energy appropriate to its nature.
1960
Woodblock print
Shôwa period, 1926-1989
Woodblock print
1939-68
Woodblock print
1939 (printed 1955)
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Hi No Kami was created by Shiko Munakata (棟方志功) in 1937.
Hi No Kami depicts figures, religious, and mythology.
