Garden Rocks 庭石

The four screens show four different aspects of nature, with a squat garden rock depicted in each one of them. Each piece can stand as a work on its own; but, apparently, the whole set of four represents the seasons of the year. In the screen named "Rain," a spring rain brings out the red hue of the rock, known as the red stone of Sado. In "Water," the symmetry created by the reflection on water stress the significance of form. The rock illuminated by an autumn moon in "Moon" is reportedly based on an image the artist encountered by chance in Ueno Park, Tokyo. The clear outline of the shadow cast toward bottom right enhances the limpidity of the light. "Snow" depicts the garden of Nanpu Katayama's residence. Only the thickly moss-grown washbasin is covered with snow.
To the eyes of those familiar with the magnificent portrayals of nature by Iwahashi, these little scene might look out of his style. This symbolical presentation of nature through rocks, and the interest in the difference in color and shape among the four singular-looking rocks, shows he was in a period of experiments. This work brought the artist into prominence by winning him membership in the "Nihon Bijutsuin" in 1953 and the Minister of Education Art Encouragement Prize (for 1953) in 1954.