Higashiyama Sanso - Spring

Date:: Contemporary - 1975
Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: robynbuntin

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

Higashiyama Sanso — a garden villa on Kyoto's eastern hills — is Karhu's subject in this 1975 spring print, the hillside property's traditional architecture set among cherry trees in bloom against the verdant mountains. Higashiyama provided Karhu with the intersection of garden, architecture, and natural landscape that he found most fertile compositionally, and the spring setting adds the seasonal drama of blossoms against aged timber and tile. The composition integrates the villa into the hillside behind it, making building and landscape feel continuous.