by Joshua Rome
$1,500–$6,000. Smaller works: $1,500–$2,500. Key value factors: Rome's contemplative abstract prints bridge Eastern and Western aesthetics. Limited editions hold value.
Printed in an edition of 86, this oban mokuhanga captures the charged stillness that follows a rainstorm, when saturated surfaces release moisture back into the warming air. Joshua Rome renders this transitional moment through layered water-based pigments on washi paper, each printing pass adding another veil of translucent color that builds cumulative depth. The wet-on-damp printing conditions that mokuhanga requires give the image an organic softness impossible to achieve with oil-based inks, and Rome exploits this quality to evoke the humidity and diffused light of a post-rain landscape. The edition number suggests this is a mature work produced with the confidence of an artist who has internalized the technical demands of hand-printing and can focus on atmospheric nuance rather than procedural concerns.
1962
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
c. 1833-36
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Ame no Omiya
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
After the Rain (38/86) was created by Joshua Rome.
After the Rain (38/86) depicts rain.
