Emergence

A figure with a pale, mask-like face is shown in profile from the shoulders up, wrapped in a red kimono patterned with a pink diamond-lattice collar and pale floral motifs, set against a solid black background. The figure's downturned gaze meets a dense swarm of orange-red and black butterflies that fill the lower half of the composition, their wings overlapping the kimono's edge. The palette is limited to black, red-orange, and white, giving the print a stark, graphic quality; the sheet is signed and numbered in pencil below the image, with the title "Emergence" inscribed at lower left. Etching, Saito Kaoru, year unknown.