City Hall, Hibiya
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Art of Japan
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.
Tokyo's City Hall in the Hibiya district, adjacent to Hibiya Park and the Imperial Palace grounds, provides a subject that sits at the intersection of civic authority and urban landscape. Suwa's woodblock print presents the government building with the formal attention its institutional status commands, while the surrounding Hibiya context, with its mix of parkland, office buildings, and broad avenues, grounds the structure in its physical environment. The Hibiya area's proximity to the Imperial Palace gives it a ceremonial quality distinct from other Tokyo business districts, and the wide streets and open spaces around City Hall allow Suwa to compose with more sky and horizontal expanse than the narrow-canyon street scenes typical of his urban work.
Woodblock print
1928
Color lithograph
1930
Color lithograph
1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
City Hall, Hibiya was created by Kanenori Suwa (諏訪兼紀).
City Hall, Hibiya depicts urban scenes and architecture.
