Harbor Elegy
by Ansei Uchima
- Date:
- 1956
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
Harbor Elegy (1956) is a color woodblock print that treats a port or waterfront not as a scene of commerce and activity but as a site of loss and remembrance. An elegy is a poem of mourning, and the harbor setting — where departures are visible, where ships diminish toward the horizon, where those left behind stand watching — provides a natural landscape for such feeling. Uchima's abstract rendering transforms the physical elements of a harbor (water, piers, distant vessels, reflected light) into a tonal meditation, the colors muted and the forms softened as though seen through the blur of emotional distance.
More Prints by Ansei Uchima
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Harbor Elegy was created by Ansei Uchima (内間安瑆) in 1956.
Harbor Elegy depicts landscapes and seascapes.