Beheaded camellias....

Posted by Japanalia (Yokohama, Japan) on 17 January 2008 in Art & Design and Portfolio.

It is not warm enough to go out and take photos, therefore I have to delve in my stock and show you some of the things that I like. Winter months are full of exhibitions in Japan, a lot being about Japanese cultural treasures and Japanese art. The detail here is from a folding screen that Susumu MAKI - Japanese painter - painted in 1994. It was presented at the Narukawa Museaum of Art in Hakone ( one year ago), which has a big collection of Japanese art, mostly "nihonga" (specific Japanese way of painting, different from Western style of painting in many ways).In feudal Japan, camellias were associated with the heads of the people (generally samurai or landowners) that have been beheaded for one reason or another. The belief is no longer valid, but camellia trees are still present in great numbers on the grounds of temples.And...they make a very good subject in art and flower arrangements.

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