Stars before Dawn (Mimei boshi)
- Date:
- 1970
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; edition 10/50
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
$300–$2,500. Common prints: $300–$800. Key value factors: Fukita's colorful abstract prints are modestly priced. Bold compositions with vivid color are most valued.
"Stars before Dawn (Mimei boshi)" is a 1970 color woodblock print, edition 10 of 50, by Fukita Fumiaki. The Japanese title "Mimei boshi" literally means "not-yet-bright stars," capturing the specific moment when night begins to yield to approaching daylight but the stars remain visible. This liminal hour, when the eastern horizon barely hints at warmth while the western sky still holds its darkness, has particular resonance in Japanese aesthetic tradition. Fukita renders this fleeting transition through layered color printing, likely graduating from deep indigo through lighter blue-gray tones while scattering points of light across the composition. The small edition of 50 allowed careful attention to each impression. The print crystallizes a daily astronomical event that most people sleep through, preserving it in permanent form.
Woodblock print
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
![Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)" by Kawase Hasui](https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/d0960668-1e73-339a-b182-fb995a54bff0/full/843,/0/default.jpg)
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
March 1933
Color woodblock print; oban
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Stars before Dawn (Mimei boshi) was created by Fukita Fumiaki (吹田文明) in 1970.
Stars before Dawn (Mimei boshi) depicts night scenes and abstract.
