Recognize this trunk? It's a piece of a famous bonsai. Bill Valavanis took this photo back in 2018.
It's of course Masahiko "The Magician" Kimura's masterpiece white pine. Here's Bill's shot of the whole tree.
Here's a photo of the same tree right after Kimura restyled it, sometime around 1996. It's the same photo that's on the cover of the May-June 1996 issue of Bonsai Today. At the time it was one of the most famous Japanese white pine bonsai in the world and it still may be. This photo is also in the White pine gallery in our Masters’ Series Pine Book.
The play of light and shadow... This photo is from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Here's part of the machine translation: Japanese yew, Autumn Special Exhibition: Contemporary Bonsai Masters: Masahiko Kimura; Playing with Bonsai, the Origin of His Works. Scroll down for your link to the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum.
This unusual rock planting by Kimura is also featured at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. There is no caption, so we'll let it speak for itself.
Three years elapsed between these before and after shots. Masahiko Kimura styled this Ezo spruce (Picea Glehnii) planting with a high mountain stand of conifers in mind. This and the photos just below are from Bonsai Today issue 26.
This famous Hinoki planting by the even more famous Masahiko Kimura, sold at the 2018 Taikan ten bonsai show for a mere 1,800,000 Japanese yen (approx $16,000).
This multitple rock planting by Kimura fetched 4,500,000 yen (approx $40,000) at the same show.
One of Kimura's several Shimpaku single rock plantings. This one sold for 3,600,000 yen (approx $32,000), also at the 2018 Taikan ten.
