Boats of Hong Kong

Date:: 1987
Medium:: Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Format:: Oban
Dimensions:: 31.1 × 57.2 cm
Source:

Typical Price

Sought-after Karhu Kyoto street or architectural scene: $800–$2,000
Good condition signed print (edition ~100): $400–$1,200
Standard edition impression: $200–$700

Description

The cluttered working harbor of Hong Kong — its junks, sampans, and modern vessels overlapping in the crowded anchorage — is Karhu's subject in this 1987 print, a departure from his usual Kyoto streets into the noisy maritime world of a Chinese port city. Karhu traveled within Asia during his Kyoto years, and these travel prints demonstrate his ability to apply his architectural eye to new environments. The tightly packed boats create the same kind of interlocking geometric complexity that he found in Kyoto's tile rooftops.