Key value factors: As self-carved and self-printed works, sosaku-hanga value is tied to the artist's reputation and edition size. Larger formats, earlier editions, and historically significant works command the highest prices.
This woodblock print offers another view of the Nikolai Cathedral, here titled with its Japanese name Nikorai and described as a distant prospect (embo) of the chapel. The Russian Orthodox cathedral in Kanda was a recurring subject for Showa-era Tokyo printmakers because its domed profile provided a striking visual accent against the city's predominantly low-rise skyline. Fujimori's treatment of the cathedral from a distance reduces the building to its essential silhouette, the dome and cross recognizable even at a scale where architectural details are lost. The surrounding urban landscape likely fills the foreground and middle ground, giving the viewer a sense of the cathedral's relationship to the broader fabric of Tokyo. The print dates from the Showa era, when the original 1891 building was still standing before earthquake and wartime damage required reconstruction.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Nikorai Embo-distant view of the Nikolai Chapel was created by Fujimori Shizuo (藤森静雄) in Japanese, Shôwa era, 20th century.
Nikorai Embo-distant view of the Nikolai Chapel depicts landscapes.