Coleus

The first of nine woodblock prints in Taisui's coleus series, this design introduces the ornamental foliage plant as a subject for sustained botanical study within the shin-hanga tradition. Coleus, with its richly patterned leaves in combinations of red, green, cream, and purple, offered Taisui an opportunity to demonstrate precise color-block printing technique independent of the seasonal narrative typical of kacho-e. The composition likely presents one or two leaves in close study against an open ground, establishing the formal language — cropped botanical detail, soft background bokashi, careful vein rendering — that would carry through the series. Published by Kawaguchi or the Sakai-Kawaguchi partnership, this initial design set the standard for registration and color consistency maintained across all nine variants.