Genji Woman II

Another figure from the Genji cycle, this 1968 print represents Karhu's early engagement with the classical Japanese literary and visual tradition. The woman — an aristocratic figure from Murasaki Shikibu's eleventh-century novel — is depicted with the elongated elegance and layered robes that characterize Heian-era court beauty, rendered in Karhu's direct woodblock style. Made early in his Kyoto years, the print shows an artist still exploring the range of subjects available to him in his adopted culture before committing to the architectural subjects that would define his career.