Sumio Goto - Pagoda through the Four Seasons: Summer (塔映四季 夏)

This lithograph belongs to Sumio Goto's celebrated 'Pagoda through the Four Seasons' series, which portrays an ancient temple pagoda across the changing seasons; this sheet depicts high summer. A three-storied pagoda rises quietly behind a veil of fresh green maples, its silhouette emerging from deep malachite and ultramarine foliage while a wash of gold animates the sky. Goto, one of the leading Nihonga painters of postwar Japan, based his compositions on direct sketching yet idealized nature with mineral pigments and gold, treating temple architecture as a symbol of Japanese spirituality rather than a mere historical structure. The print faithfully carries over the luminous depth and devotional stillness of his painted work, offering an accessible entry point to a nationally honored master whose paintings are held in major Japanese museums.