$500–$5,000. Common prints: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Kitaoka's refined style has a modest but loyal collector base.
Akebono — the Japanese word for dawn, that liminal moment when darkness lifts and the first light stains the sky — offered Kitaoka a subject of pure atmospheric transition. The composition captures the brief interval when colors are uncertain, when shapes emerge from darkness but have not yet resolved into full daylight clarity. It is a subject that rewards the woodblock's capacity for tonal subtlety, the graduated wash of early light rendered through Kitaoka's careful orchestration of a limited, cool palette.
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.
Akebono (Dawn) was created by Fumio Kitaoka (北岡文雄).
Akebono (Dawn) depicts landscapes, night scenes, and abstract.
