Lake Mashū
- Date:
- 1961
- Medium:
- Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
- Dimensions:
- 48.3 × 62.7 cm
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
Lake Mashū, one of Japan's deepest caldera lakes in eastern Hokkaido, is rendered here with Kitaoka's characteristic economy of means: still water reduced to a luminous horizontal plane, forested caldera walls compressed into bold silhouettes. Kitaoka visited Hokkaido repeatedly throughout the early 1960s, drawn to its vast, relatively unspoiled landscapes that offered clear formal motifs for his increasingly abstract approach. The print's restrained palette and hard-edged geometry exemplify how he translated the sosaku-hanga ideal of direct personal expression into a modernist formal language.
More Prints by Fumio Kitaoka
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Lake Mashū was created by Fumio Kitaoka (北岡文雄) in 1961.
Lake Mashū depicts landscapes and rivers & lakes.
Lake Mashū measures 48.3 × 62.7 cm.