This print depicts the Uzumasa Bull Festival at Koryuji, one of Kyoto's oldest temples. Cultural festival subjects are relatively uncommon in Asano's catalog, which is dominated by landscape and architectural views. Expect to pay $200-$600 for this piece, with higher prices for early impressions bearing the Unsodo publisher seal.
The Bull Festival at Koryuji Temple in Kyoto's Uzumasa district — an ancient ceremony in which a bull carries sacred offerings through the temple precinct — is captured by Asano with the combination of careful observation and atmospheric warmth that characterized his festival subjects. The ceremony, among the most ancient surviving Shinto-Buddhist ritual observances in Kyoto, provided him with a subject that unified his interest in sacred architecture, seasonal ceremony, and the living traditions of the old capital. The bull's measured procession through the temple grounds creates a visual subject that is simultaneously humble and deeply charged with religious significance.
二月 (伏見稲荷大社祭)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
七月 (祇園祭山鉾巡行)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
八月 (三条大橋より大文字)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Bull Festival at Koryuji (広隆寺牛祭) was created by Takeji Asano (浅野竹二).
Bull Festival at Koryuji uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on woodblock print.
Bull Festival at Koryuji was published by Unsodo.
Bull Festival at Koryuji depicts summer.
