Flowers of a Hundred Worlds (Momoyogusa): Flower-draped Carts
1909
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1909
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see two ox-drawn carts covered in vines and flowers, rolling down a gold-leaf road under a soft blue sky. Sekka painted this in 1909, when Japan was mixing old woodblock styles with new Western ideas. The flowers aren’t real—they’re symbols from old poems, each one standing for a season or a feeling. The gold background isn’t just pretty; it was a trick from Buddhist scrolls to make the scene feel timeless. If you like this, look up *sfumato*—the way Sekka blurred petal edges to make them glow.
