The little prince's wonderland for my Mister Bunny ❤
From now on, should it grow and open full, the sweet clematis; Flower bold, but there's no need for rejoicing more; Precious life, this life, just once, it comes just one time; Keep it close, keep it from ever just leaving you
The flowers withered Their colour faded away While meaninglessly I spent my days in the world And the long rains were falling. (Ono no Komachi, Japanese poet of the early Heian period; tr. D. Keene)
Portraits of women take a special place among the numerous works of Kiyoshi Saitō (1907–1997). A member of the sōsaku-hanga (‘creative printʼ)movement, Saitō focused on simplification of forms and reduction of colours distributed in large and clearly delineated patches. His subjects included landscapes, still lifes, animals, and portraits. In a series of depictions of women he perfectly unites the sensations of balance, tension, and ineffable melancholy. Moreover, Saitōʼs artistic sensitivity sometimes allows an inanimate object—a bunraku puppet—to have a share in this serene struggle.
Top to bottom, left to right: Maiko [source]; Maiko (2), c. 1960 [source]; Maiko, Kyoto, 1961 [source]; Maiko, Kyoto, 1959 [source]; Maiko (I), 1950s [source]; Bunraku puppet (Untitled—A), probably 1960s [source].
