Woodblock Print by Kano School: Meeting of Arhats

Monks on the rocks, a gnarled pine overhead and something with wings making an entrance through the clouds.

This woodblock print, Meeting of Arhats, is in the Kano School manner, from Japan, published 1898-1908, in ink on paper. Arhats, or rakan in Japanese, are enlightened disciples of the Buddha, and paintings of them gathered in wild mountain settings were a long-standing subject of the Kano painters. Several robed figures sit and stand among dark rocks, one with dark skin and a striped red robe, another with a staff. A twisting pine climbs the right side. At the top, a figure rides swirling clouds. It is 7.25 inches wide and 15.8 high.

An assembly with no agenda, and very good scenery.