This powerful and famous Yew by is by Bonsai Master Masahiko Kimura. It's from The Magician (below). It also appears in Bonsai Today issue 56.
Archives plus today. Most of this post originally appeared in February 2010 and again last year. It was originally titled ‘Eccentric Bonsai: Fearless Master Kimura Again’. I’ve added some copy and killed some of the original copy in an attempt to reduce the wince factor. I’ve also added another photo for your enjoyment.
Same species but very different tree. Though it's not as powerful as many other Kimura trees (see above and below), nor is it considered one of his classics, still... there's that unusual trunk that give pause for thought. It's a Japanese Yew that appears in The Bonsai Art of Kimura (long out of print). There is no explanation given for how the trunk was formed. My guess is that Kimura split the original trunk and re-joined the two halves.
The following is from The Bonsai Art of Kimura (still out of print) in a section titled ‘Some future bonsai masterpieces.’
“…this Yew was a favorite tree in the artist’s collection. He sold it once only to buy it back again.
“In the summer of 1984 the back branch died because the wire Kimura put on originally had not been removed (this no doubt happened during the time when someone else owned it). Although it was an important branch that provided balance, it was compensated for by changing positions of other branches. The tree’s height is 26″ (66 cm).”
Shooting the Magician at night. This astounding tree is originally from an El Tim album that we featured in 2013.
Dig in and let yourself be inspired by the bonsai brilliance of the The Magician. On special at Stone Lantern.