Lannan Gallery Prints

A precisely composed, darkly hued woodblock print by famed Japanese printmaker Kiyoshi Saito. Many consider Saito to be one of the most important, if not the most important, contempo...

A beautifully and serenely composed image by renowned Japanese artist/printmaker Shoda Koho (1871-1946). This work titled "A Watermill Affixed to a Shed" is from his Nishinomiya Yos...

Original Japanese woodblock print by Totoya Hokkei ????(1780-1850) About the artist Totoya Hokkei (?? ??, 1780–1850) was a Japanese artist best kno...

Later 20th century lithograph "Oracle", by Toko Shinoda, #19/35. Shinoda (1913-2021). Lithograph with hand coloring. Floated on mat. Provenance: 4/26/98, Tolman Collection, Tokyo for...

A fine antique Taisho period Japanese woodblock print. Depicting a swooping heron above a riverbed with a thin sliver of a crescent moon in the background. By Seikо̄. Seikо̄ is tho...

Japanese Woodblock Print by Yanagawa Shigenobu 1787-1832, unframed. ABOUT THE ARTIST Born in Yanagawa in 1787, Shigenobu worked as a puppet ma...

Japanese 19th Century Woodblock Print of Kabuki Actors Toyokuni III Original Woodcut by Toyokuni III (1786 - 1864) Of the Kabuki actors Bando Hikosab...

Chinese framed print detail of larger painting. Expertly framed with double mats of linen and simulated bamboo featuring gold leaf edging on both mats. "Han-Kan Bringing Tribute" New...

An antique Japanese Shunga woodblock print in gilt frame depicting a man and a woman making love. Created in Japan, this woodblock print called...

An antique Japanese woodblock print depicting a bird and trees, in a custom frame. Immerse yourself in the serene beauty of this antique Japanese woodblock print, a piece that master...

By Hiroshi Yoshida (1876-1950). Original trimmed print 1930. Titled: Harbor of Tomonoura Series: Seto Inland Sea 9.5"H x 14.5"W Hiroshi seal Signed: Hiroshi Yoshida (in pencil) Con...

Chinese ink rubbing printing depicting Panthaka Arhat, no.4 of the 16 arhat images immortalized in stone at the former stupa at Shengyin Temple. Depicted here sitting on a rock with a book in his left hand and snapping his fingers in his right hand, symbolic of the speed at which he obtained enlightenment, accompanied by a beggar’s bowl and an incense burner, complete with colophons and silk scroll mounting. The Emperor Qianlong ordered the stone stele to be carved in 1764 after the arhat designs painted by the famed artist Guanxiu (832-912). Even though the temple was destroyed in the Taiping rebellion, the steles remain and have been reinstalled at the Hangzhou Stele Forest. Condition: Creases from rolling, otherwise fine condition. Mounting: 58” x 22”. 19th Century. Ex Collection: Frank “Till” & Peggy Durdin, San Diego. For other rubbings of this stele see: Penn Museum, object number 2010-26-4 The Metropolitan Museum of Art AN#: 59.195.15 Fine Arts Library of Harvard University, record id: W280021_urn-3:FHCL:478850 For another example of this image rendered in jade and lacquer see: “Screen Paintings of Guanxiu’s Sixteen Arhats in the Collection of the Palace Museum” Luo Wehhua translated by Bruce Doar, Orientations, September 2010, p. 104. In this article the image is identified as the sixteenth arhat Abheda, It is explained in this article that Qianlong re-identified the arhats, thus the 16th Arhat attribution for this image. Also in this article the identical colophon by Qianlong above the image is translated as: “These accurate portraits of the Sixteen Arhats were created by the Tang Dynasty painter Guanxiu, as recorded in Xuanhe Huapu (Record of paintings in the Xuanhe Reign), and during the millennium from the Guangming reign period to the present day, the original works were to be found in Zhejiang, where they were housed in the collection of Shengyin Temple in Qiantang (Huangzhou). In spring of the dingchou year (1757) of his reign, the Qianlong emperor undertook a southern tour of inspection and stayed at an imperial lodge on the West Lake. He went to the temple to pay his respects and there he saw the arhats on display and wrote a description of these marvels. The sequence of the arhats and their names had been passed down since ancient times, but they did not correspond to their Sanskrit titles; the sequence of the arhat names conformed instead to the interpretation of the Sanskrit classics by the Zhangjia State Preceptor. The emperor penned the original names and positions in the sequence below each of the figures in accordance with the readings supplied in Tongwen Yuntong (Unified Rhymes), and below each he penned an encomium, which he signed. Then the images were returned to the collection, to be passed down as a perpetual treasure. Now, the fourth great arhat had long gone missing and we did not know where his painting was. But it was merely a trifling matter of matching the images with the names, and now surely we have found him! This I, the emperor, believe.” All 16 of these rubbings can be found in the Rubel Chinese Rubbings Collection at the Fine Arts Library of Harvard University with the following descriptive historical note: “Rubbing from stele depicting No. 4 of 16 arhats (Lohans, Buddhist saints) -- Nan ti mi duo luo qing you, Panthaka Arhat. Original painting attributed to Guanxiu, 832-912. Inscriptions written by Hongli, Emperor Qianlong (Gaozong, 1711-1799) of Qing Dynasty. 7 seals of Qianlong follow the inscriptions. Script style: in xing shu. Shi liu zun zhe -- "The 16 noble ones" are 16 lohans. Lohans are also called "a-lo-han" based on the transliteration of the Sanskrit term "arhat." (Japanese: Rakan; Chinese: Lohan; Tibetan: Gnas-brtan). Arhats or Arahants are saints or sages said to have renounced nirvana (freedom from the cycle of suffering and rebirth), vowed to remain in the world to protect the Dharma and propagate the Law of the Buddha in order to devote themselves more effectively to the relief of human misery, like the Bodhisattvas. These 16 Arhats, personal disciples distinguished by the Buddha, formed part of the 500 claimed by tradition to have attended the First Council in Rajagrha. The names and abodes of these 16 arhats are given in a work entitled "Record on the Duration of the Law, spoken by the Great arhat Nadimitra," which was translated into Chinese by the famous pilgrim Xuanzang (596-664) in 654. 16 lohans are quite often represented, especially in China and Japan, in sculpture and painting, in poses and with attributes. Every lohan can be easily with special icongraphic characteristics. Guanxiu (Jiang Deyin or Deyuan, a Buddhist monk also named Master Chan Yue, 832-912) -- painter during late Tang to Five Dynasties, specialized in painting lohan figures. Legend has it that the first portraits of the 18 Lohans...