Yoshitoshi: The Moon Through a Crumbling Window 月百姿 破窓月 (Sold)

Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Title: The Moon Through a Crumbling Window
Series: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon (Tsuki hyakushi)
Date: 1886

Daruma sits in quiet yet intense concentration, wrapped only in his monk’s robe. Daruma (or Bodhidharma) was the Indian prince who brought Buddhism to China in the 6th century, and was a renowned ascetic. He is said to have sat facing a wall and meditating for nine years, until the outer wall crumbled and the walls of relative reality crumbled inwardly as he experienced higher states of consciousness. The scene is bathed in moonlight, yet Daruma’s expression is severe as he focuses in concentration. The wall crumbles around him and small vines are growing. As John Stevenson also notes in his book on the series, Daruma has come to epitomize the discipline and austerity of Zen Buddhism.

Condition: Very good impression, color and condition. Backed. 
Dimensions: ôban 35.1 x 24.1 cm
Publisher: Akiyama Takeuemon
Literature: Stevenson, John “Yoshitoshi’s One Hundred Aspects of the Moon”  #30.
Seal: Taiso
Signature: Yoshitoshi

SKU: YOCS015