San Francisco Golden Gate Park Japanese Tea Garden

Japanese Tea Garden - a landscape painting by the artist Irina Sztukowski.

The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, California, is a popular... more

by Irina Sztukowski

Title

San Francisco Golden Gate Park Japanese Tea Garden

Artist

Irina Sztukowski

Medium

Painting - Watercolor

Description

Japanese Tea Garden - a landscape painting by the artist Irina Sztukowski.

The Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco, California, is a popular feature of Golden Gate Park, originally built as part of a sprawling World's Fair, the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. Tours are offered every day by San Francisco City Guides.
The oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, this complex of many paths, ponds and a teahouse features native Japanese and Chinese plants. The garden's 5 acres contain many sculptures and bridges.

After the conclusion of the 1894 World's Fair, Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant and gardener, approached John McLaren with the idea to convert the temporary exhibit into a permanent park. Hagiwara personally oversaw the building of the Japanese Tea Garden and was official caretaker of the garden from 1895 to 1925. He specifically requested that one thousand flowering cherry trees be imported from Japan, as well as other native plants, birds, and the now famous goldfish. After San Francisco's 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition closed, he obtained the two large ornamental wooden gates, and probably also the Tea Garden's prominent five-tiered pagoda, from that fair's Japanese enclave.[1]
The Hagiwara family lived in and maintained the Japanese Tea Garden until 1942, when Executive Order 9066 forced them to leave San Francisco and relocate to an internment camp with thousands of other Japanese-American families. The garden was renamed the "Oriental Tea Garden" and fell into disarray.
In 1949, a large bronze Buddha, originally cast in Tajima, Japan in 1790, was presented to the garden by the S & G Gump Company. The name "Japanese Tea Garden" was officially reinstated in 1952. In 1953 the Zen Garden, designed by Nagao Sakurai and representing a modern version of kare sansui (a dry garden which symbolizes a miniature mountain scene complete with a stone waterfall and small island surrounded by a gravel river) was dedicated at the same time as the 9,000-pound (4,100 kg) Lantern of Peace, which was purchased by contributions from Japanese children and presented on their behalf as a symbol of friendship for future generations. (info is courtesy of wiki)

When you purchase a print, you can e-mail the date of purchase and the image title to Irina, and she will personally send you Certificate of Authenticity with her signature.�

If you are interested in special promotions, discount codes, requesting a commission painting, or wish to license this particular artwork or a series of artworks, please contact Irina directly.

Uploaded

September 7th, 2010