From the Water
by Gen Yamanaka
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Image courtesy of
- The Verne Collection
Description
From the Water situates the viewer at or near a water surface looking upward or outward into a night sky, creating a compositional dialogue between reflective water below and stellar light above. The subject allows Yamanaka to exploit the reflective duality central to much of his work — stars appearing twice, once in the sky and once in the water's surface. This mirroring is technically demanding in woodblock printing, requiring precise registration between sky and reflection blocks while maintaining the textural differentiation between atmospheric and aquatic space. The washi ground contributes its own soft luminosity to both planes.
More Prints by Gen Yamanaka
More Night Scenes Prints
Evening in East Africa
Woodblock print
Evening Shower at Teradomari (Teradomari no yau), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"
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)
Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"
1947
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"
March 1933
Color woodblock print; oban
Frequently Asked Questions
From the Water was created by Gen Yamanaka (山中現).
From the Water depicts night scenes.