Kamigamo Shrine, one of Kyoto's oldest Shinto sanctuaries, appears here in a serene winter setting with snow softening its distinctive architecture. Shrine snow scenes by Asano typically sell for $150-$500. The simplicity of the Kamigamo grounds under snow allows the clean lines of the woodblock medium to shine.
Snow at Kamigamo Shrine presents Kyoto's ancient Kamo River deity shrine in its winter condition — the shrine's distinctive conical sand mounds (tatesuna) and raked gravel precincts covered with snow, the forested grounds beyond the shrine buildings white and still. Kamigamo is among the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan, its austere architectural forms — whitewashed walls, simple cypress-bark roofs, and the twin tatesuna — rendered here in the most reduced seasonal palette. The contrast between the shrine's ordered human forms and the irregular weight of snow covering them created one of his most formally compelling snow compositions.
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
1932
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Snow at Kamigamo Shrine (上賀茂神社雪) was created by Takeji Asano (浅野竹二).
Snow at Kamigamo Shrine uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on woodblock print.
Snow at Kamigamo Shrine was published by Unsodo.
Snow at Kamigamo Shrine depicts snow scenes and temples & shrines.
