Lord and Lady Ashiya I

Lord and Lady Ashiya appear in the first print of what was likely a series depicting this pair from Japanese literary and theatrical tradition — figures of aristocratic refinement whose story involves romantic tension and social constraint. Made in 1967, the print belongs to Karhu's early period of engagement with classical Japanese literary subjects, before he committed fully to the architectural streetscapes of his mature career. The composition draws on the conventions of Japanese figural imagery while filtering them through Karhu's graphic, flat-color woodblock style.