Woman in the Rain
- Date:
- 1915
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Source:
- Art of Japan
$1,000–$8,000. Beauty prints by this artist are particularly sought after. Good Watanabe-published prints: $2,500–$5,000. Key value factors: As one of the first Western shin-hanga artists, Capelari's prints have both historical significance and artistic appeal. Watanabe-published prints are most valued.
Created in 1915, this [oban](/glossary/oban) woodblock print combines two of Capelari's recurring interests: the figure of a Japanese woman and the atmospheric effect of rainfall. The woman likely wears traditional dress, a kimono with an obi sash, and carries or shelters beneath a wagasa umbrella as rain falls around her. The composition places a human figure within a weather event, creating both a portrait and a landscape in a single image. Fritz Capelari's European training informed his treatment of the figure's posture and proportions, lending a naturalistic weight to the woman's stance as she moves through the rain. The [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) printing technique would have rendered the rain as fine parallel lines over a grey-washed background, while the woman's kimono and umbrella receive the layered, saturated color treatment that Watanabe's printers excelled at producing.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Woman in the Rain was created by Fritz Capelari (フリッツ・カペラリ) in 1915.
Woman in the Rain depicts bijin-ga and rain.
