26157 Munakata Shiko, Half-Leg Bodhisattva (Munakata Shiko Appraisal Committee)

Height 28.0cm x 63.5cm (including frame)
Width 20.5cm x 41.0cm (including frame)

Munakata Shiko was a Japanese woodblock artist born in Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture in 1903 (Meiji 36). In his final years, he temporarily changed his name to Munakata Shiko. He grew up in a poor family, and while helping out with the family business from a young age, he became drawn to painting. It is said that he was particularly moved by the beauty of arrowhead flowers he saw in a rice paddy, and decided to become a painter.

Half-lotus position is one of the basic sitting positions in Buddhism. There are two ways to sit in this position: with the top of the right foot resting on the left thigh, or with the top of the left foot resting on the right thigh. This is different from full-lotus position, where both legs are crossed.

Shiko Munakata is an artist who switched from oil painting to printmaking and established the unique genre of "woodblock prints." Many of his works feature Buddhist themes.

Deep faith: Shiko Munakata's works often express his deep faith in Buddhism and reverence for traditional Japanese culture.

Original interpretation: He added powerful lines and a unique sense of color to traditional motifs, creating works full of vitality that are unique to Shiko Munakata. His "Half-Lotus Bodhisattva" is also thought to have been reconstructed through Shiko Munakata's own sensibility, while taking into account the traditional expression of half-lotus pensive statues.

Rather than faithfully depicting the pensive half-lotus statues of a particular temple, Munakata Shiko added his own artistic touch to the images of "contemplation" and "compassion" inherent in the pensive half-lotus statues, resulting in the creation of the one-of-a-kind "Picture of a Pensive Half-Lower Bodhisattva."