Key value factors: Edition order (first Watanabe/Doi printing vs. posthumous reprints) is crucial. Snow scenes, night views, and bijin-ga typically command premiums. Publisher seals and artist signatures authenticate first editions.
This untitled woodblock print by Inuzuka Taisui extends the artist's catalog of [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) nature subjects. The [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) technique, in which the printer applies a graduated wash of pigment across the block surface before pressing it onto the paper, was a key tool for rendering the soft tonal transitions found in flower petals. Unlike the sharp, even color areas of [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) prints, shin-hanga botanical works frequently used bokashi to create the subtle blending from light to dark within a single petal or leaf. Taisui's designs likely specified where these gradations should appear, with the printer interpreting the artist's intentions through skilled manipulation of pigment and pressure. The resulting prints possess a painterly softness that belies their mechanical, block-printed origins.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Untitled (inuzuka-taisui) was created by Inuzuka Taisui (犬塚泰水).
Untitled (inuzuka-taisui) uses Bokashi, on woodblock print.
Untitled (inuzuka-taisui) depicts birds & flowers and abstract.
