English
Hirayama Ikuo Painting Work
The Silk Road

The Merchant Fleet on the Silk Road: West·The Moon

  • Hirayama Ikuo
  • 2005
  • Color on Paper (Japanese Style Painting, Nihonga)
  • 171.0×364.0cm

In his later years, Hirayama Ikuo finished the “Great Silk Road” series of works on the basis of the caravan of merchants and camels on the Silk Road. This series of works is considered his masterpiece. He pays attention to the combination of different colors: dark blue and orange are used as background colors, and the Silk Road under the moon at night and that under the sun in the morning are contrasted. Caravans of merchants and camels move from the east to the west, passing by the ruins of Loulan, Afghanistan, Jaisalmer Fort in India, and Palmyra Ruins in Syria. They pass Turkey and Ephesus and head the end of Eurasia and arrived in Rome, the end of the Silk Road. Hirayama Ikuo began painting this series since the opening of the museum and has finished 12 pictures by 2009 when he passed away. These pictures are exhibited in the large room on the second floor. (Works exhibited are changed at a regular time.)