Golden Pagoda in Rangoon

Object Details

• Artist

  Yoshida Hiroshi 吉田博 (1876-1950)

• Label

  Yoshida traveled to Yangon (Rangoon) in present-day Myanmar (Burma) aboard the British ship Blue Channel. Yoshida commemorated his visit there with this print of the Shwe-Zigon (Shwe Dagon) Pagoda, one of the most sacred Buddhist sites in Southeast Asia. Entirely covered with gold, the pagoda is believed to contain relics of the historic Buddha as well as of previous Buddhas. Built high on platforms rising on a hilly site, the pagoda had reached its current form in the sixteenth century, and was an important destination for pilgrims. The carefully graded and overprinted colors selected by Yoshida for this print suggest the warm glow of the setting sun as it illuminates the golden dome and spire of the pagoda. The shadows of twilight are suggested by the dark blue and green tones in the foreground, where water buffalo gather near a lake that reflects the pagoda and the surrounding landscape.

• Provenance

  To 1996

  Henry Edwin Robison (1913-2008), Palo Alto, CA, to 1996

  From 1996

  Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, given by Henry Edwin Robison in 1996

• Collection

  National Museum of Asian Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Yoshida Hiroshi: Japanese Prints of India and Southeast Asia (August 1 to October 17, 1999)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Henry Edwin Robison (1913-2008)

• Origin

  Japan

• Credit Line

  Gift of H. Ed Robison in memory of Katherine W. Robison

• Type

  Print

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

  There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page.

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1930s

• Name

  Robison, Henry Edwin

• Place

  Japan

• Topic

  Art, Showa era (1926 - 1989), Japanese Art, Pagoda, Water buffalo

• Culture

  Japanese

• Object Type

  Prints