Rose No 10

Following its immediate predecessor in Sugiura Kazutoshi's rose series, this tenth rose composition explores a slight variation on the formal and chromatic solutions of No. 9 — perhaps a different color of bloom, a different stage of opening, or a different relationship between the flower and the pictorial ground. Sugiura's habit of working in numbered series allowed him to document these incremental variations systematically, creating a record of his sustained engagement with each botanical subject. The gold-leaf application that characterizes his approach gives the rose a warmth suited to a flower whose associations in Japanese culture emphasize luxury and romantic feeling.