Aerial: Night
by Ansei Uchima
- Date:
- 1964
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
Aerial: Night (1964) presents a nocturnal landscape seen from above — a viewpoint that transforms familiar terrain into abstract pattern. The aerial perspective eliminates horizon lines and conventional spatial orientation, leaving the viewer suspended over a field of darkness punctuated by scattered light. Uchima's color woodblock technique renders this nightscape through layered transparent inks, building depth not through perspective but through the cumulative effect of overprinted color. The "aerial" of the title suggests both physical altitude and a quality of lightness, the composition floating free of gravitational reference while the darkness carries the specific weight of night.
More Prints by Ansei Uchima
More Night Scenes Prints
Evening in East Africa
Woodblock print
Evening Shower at Teradomari (Teradomari no yau), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"
March 1933
Color woodblock print; oban
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Aerial: Night was created by Ansei Uchima (内間安瑆) in 1964.
Aerial: Night depicts night scenes.