Retribution

Date:: 1960
Medium:: Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Dimensions:: 65.4 × 47.6 cm
Edition:: Self-printed
Source:: Minneapolis Institute of Art

Typical Price

$500–$4,000. Common prints: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Yamaguchi's contemplative, semi-abstract style has a niche following. Condition and impression quality are key factors.

Description

Retribution, a woodblock print from 1960, engages with the concept of consequence — the idea that actions return to their originators in kind. The concept of retribution (mukui or tenbatsu) in Japanese thought carries both Buddhist karmic dimensions and the more immediate social dimensions of justice and revenge. Yamaguchi's abstract rendering of this charged concept likely translates the circular logic of retribution — action and its consequence meeting — into compositional forms that suggest return, reflection, and the closed loop of cause and effect.