Gasen-dō Hall 画仙堂

Official explanation

The Gasen-dō Hall is a small, unassuming building tucked away in a grove of Japanese maples near Hōjō Pond in the southwest corner of the temple grounds. The hall was donated in 1914 by distinguished artist Suzuki Shōnen (1848¬–1918), the second-generation head of the Suzuki school of art. The hall’s interior and ceiling are decorated with artwork by Shōnen’s eldest son, Suzuki Shōsen (1872–1925), and Sekiguchi Yuki (1923–2008), a landscape artist who was active during the period following World War II. Art from the Suzuki school is most immediately identifiable by the “loose” brushwork adopted from nanga, or paintings in the Southern Chinese style.

The ceiling, painted by Shōsen, features a rendition of a heavenly dragon (tenryūzu), a motif that is said to protect the temple from fire. Images of heavenly dragons can be seen at many temples in Kyoto, including at Tenryūji Temple, where a version was painted by Shōnen. The front section of the hall’s interior bears a painting of the mountains where Amida Buddha is said to descend from the Pure Land. The image is flanked by a pair of paintings titled “Moondrops” (Tsuki no Shizuku, right) and “Shadows” (Kage, left). All three pieces were painted by Sekiguchi. The hall is closed during most of the year, but from November to early December the doors are opened for a special exhibition of the artwork.

出典: 地域観光資源の多言語解説文データベース（観光庁） — www.mlit.go.jp/tagengo-db. この英語解説文は観光庁の地域観光資源の多言語解説整備支援事業で作成しました。
Source: Japan Tourism Agency, Multilingual Explanation Database. This English text was produced by the Japan Tourism Agency's multilingual explanation project and is shown unedited. Opening hours and services may have changed since it was written.