$500–$5,000. Common prints: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Kitaoka's refined style has a modest but loyal collector base.
Aspens, whose small round leaves tremble at the slightest air movement and turn a vivid gold each autumn, are among the most dynamic of deciduous trees — and one of Kitaoka's recurring subjects. This composition captures the aspen grove's characteristic qualities: the slim white trunks rising in close-set verticals, the canopy a flickering mass of leaves that compress into planes of color in the woodblock medium. The result hovers between landscape and pure abstraction, the trees both recognizable and reduced to essential formal geometry.
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.
Aspens was created by Fumio Kitaoka (北岡文雄).
Aspens depicts landscapes, trees, and autumn foliage.
