The Pond
- Date:
- 1957
- Medium:
- Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
- Dimensions:
- 59.2 × 44.8 cm
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
$400–$3,000. Common subjects: $400–$1,000. Key value factors: Kawanishi's Kobe port scenes are his most distinctive and collected subjects.
Created in 1957, this woodblock print in ink and color on paper renders a pond as a study in stillness, reflection, and the contained world of a water surface. Kawanishi reduces the subject to its essential visual components: the flat plane of the water, the surrounding vegetation or stone edges, and the reflected forms that create a doubled, inverted landscape within the pond's boundaries. The contained geometry of a pond, unlike the open expanse of the sea or the linear flow of a river, offers a self-enclosed compositional field. Kawanishi likely exploits the reflective surface to create visual ambiguity between real and mirrored forms, a theme that the woodblock medium's flat color printing reinforces. The 1957 date places this print in Kawanishi's late period, suggesting a mature artist working with increasing formal simplicity.
Nikko Chuzenjiko
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Niigata Gosaibori
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
The Pond was created by Hide Kawanishi (川西英) in 1957.
The Pond depicts rivers & lakes.
The Pond measures 59.2 × 44.8 cm.
