115 years in training! This dignified old Zelkova serrata lives at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum. It was donated by Yoshibumi Itoigawa and has been in training since 1895.
Autumn Arts of Nature
The photos in this post are from last year’s Autumn Arts of Nature exhibition at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in Washington DC.
A bright autumn moon –
in the shade of each grass blade
a cricket chirping
Yosa Buson (1716-83)
Sotdae. Kusamono: Pygmy bamboo (Pleioblastus pygmaeus) & Wild Ducks. Artwork created by Sam-Kyun Yoon. Inspired by a traditional Korean folk art called sotdae. Placing large sotdae at the entrance to a village is a very old Korean tradition still practiced today. The carved ducks atop tall wooden poles are thought to guard against calamities and disasters.
Chrysanthemum Stone from Neodani, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. On loan to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum from Thomas S. Elias. Woodblock print illustration is BAIREI’S ONE HUNDRED CHRYSANTHEMUMS (Bairei kiku hyakushu). Designs by Kono Bairei (1844-95). Woodblock-printed book, 1891.
Books on Penjing and Kusamono and Suiseki
Don’t get too excited, it already happened last year. However, we will keep you posted on future events.
That is ONE GORGEOUS STONE. Wow.
All three of those items are gorgeous. The zelkova is a deep bonsai.
I like that ‘deep bonsai’