Key value factors: As self-carved and self-printed works, sosaku-hanga value is tied to the artist's reputation and edition size. Larger formats, earlier editions, and historically significant works command the highest prices.
Blades of grass, an elemental subject, fill the composition of this woodblock print with their vertical and arcing forms. Inagaki finds in ordinary grass the kind of rhythmic pattern that rewards close attention: individual blades overlap, cross, and create a texture that shifts between order and randomness. The print treats grass not as a background element or foreground filler but as the primary subject, worthy of the same compositional focus typically reserved for flowers or trees. Each blade is carved as a distinct line, and the accumulated effect produces a dense surface pattern that pulses with the slight irregularities of hand-cut marks transferred through the printing process.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Grass was created by Inagaki Toshijiro (稲垣稔次郎).
Grass depicts still life and trees.
