$200–$1,500. Common prints: $200–$500. Key value factors: Ebina's prints are modestly priced and accessible to beginning collectors of Japanese creative prints.
"Aoi" is Chapter 9 of The Tale of Genji, named for Genji's principal wife Lady Aoi, who dies in this chapter after being possessed by the malevolent spirit of Lady Rokujō — one of Genji's former lovers, whose jealousy has taken on a supernatural, life-destroying form. The chapter is among the most dramatically powerful in the novel: the exorcism of the possessing spirit, Aoi's death in childbirth, the grief of her family, and Genji's belated recognition of the woman he neglected in life. Ebina's illustration of this chapter navigates the supernatural and emotional extremity of Murasaki Shikibu's narrative.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Aoi was created by Ebina Masao (海老名正夫).
Aoi depicts figures, mythology, and interiors.
