Enshoku no Mandala

Where does the inspiration for the greatest artists come from? And what must they sacrifice for their art?

Dream, frustration, glory and abnegation were the engines of the complex creativity of Tôhaku Hasegawa, whose infallible talent gave birth to a timeless and refined work.

Magnified by the spectacular drawing of Chie Shimomoto, Enshoku No Mandara unfolds the story of Tôhaku Hasegawa, legendary painter and sort of Japanese reincarnation of Caravaggio at the end of the Sengoku period and the dismissal of the last Shogun of Japan.

First a Buddhist monk in the Noto peninsula, Tôhaku went to Kyoto to try to become the disciple of Eitoku Kanô, legendary painter of Kansai. In vain. But it takes more to discourage him, and the discovery the young artist will make in a burning Azuchi castle could well change the course of his life.

Frustration, glory and renunciation: what did he see beyond the works of his master?

(Source: Mangetsu, translated)