Description
In Japanese society the cherry blossom (桜の花) has many symbolic values and, even today, can arouse strong emotions; it is enough to remember that during the flowering period the whole nation seems to stop to take part in the great collective ritual of hanami (花見): in often gray cities, which suddenly turn pink, crowds of students, families, employees gather joyfully to eat under the trees in bloom. Among the many meanings attributed to the cherry blossom, stands out undoubtedly that of the transience of life: the extreme beauty of these flowers and their rapid fall seem to remind people both the good fortune to participate in the magnificent cycle of life, and the ineluctable brevity of the human parable.
The artist Adachi Mako (足立真瑚), author of this delicate painting on shikishi (色紙), was born in 1961 in Hyogo Prefecture (兵庫県) and studied Nihonga (日本画) painting at the Kyoto Saga University of Arts (嵯峨美術大学). Specializing in the creation of drawings for the decoration of sensu (扇子) fans and awarded in 2006 with the Nara Education Superintendent’s Award (奈良市教育長賞), she lives and works in the city of Kyoto.
The work, made on a thick cardboard with golden edges, is in very good condition.
