Snow at Shiba Daimon 1936

This print of Shiba Daimon temple, covered in snow, is by Hasui Kawase. I imagine he was walking through a scene like this one day, and had the impulse to depict the juxtaposition between old and new in early 20th century Japan. I love the simple shapes of the architecture, the heavy gate and the roofs, all covered in a thick blanket of white. You can almost feel the silence of the falling snow and the quiet energy of the person walking in the foreground, the only one outside. And then, the modern car. How does that fit in? How did it feel to be this artist, observing the old and new merging into a single picture? Kawase created several other snow scenes; he seems to be in dialogue with others like Hiroshige. The language of painting is like that, an endless conversation of styles and imagery. We learn from each other, and we find our own voice along the way. Just like life, painting is an ongoing process of exploration, a never-ending story of interpretation and transformation.