Prisoners' Round

"Prisoners' Round" is an unusual subject within Okuyama's largely landscape and architectural oeuvre — the circular, repetitive walk of prisoners in an exercise yard, their movement constrained to the perimeter of the enclosed space. The subject was famously treated by Van Gogh (whose version, based on a Gustave Doré engraving, Okuyama may have known through his title "Victor Van Gogh" elsewhere in his catalogue), and the circular composition of marching figures creates a visual rhythm at once monotonous and strangely hypnotic.