Takahashi H. - Mutsumi

The title 'Mutsumi' (睦み, from 睦 — 'intimacy,' 'harmony,' or as a personal name) admits multiple readings. It may refer to a personal name in modern use, to the abstract sense of harmony or close relations, or to one of several places and institutions bearing the term. In the absence of additional inscription or publication context, the specific subject is not determinable from the title alone. Possible compositional treatments range from a bijin-ga of a named subject, through a paired-figure print expressing the abstract concept of harmony, to a meisho-e of a named locale. The mokuhanga medium accommodates each of these modes through standard variations of keyblock carving and color-block layering on washi, with bokashi available for atmospheric or background passages. Within Takahashi Hiromitsu's output, the title's ambiguity points to the difficulty of cataloguing prints by an artist whose biographical and exhibition records are not yet established in the principal English-language references on Japanese printmaking.