The Kibune Shrine

Date:: 1785-1787
Medium:: Print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Victoria and Albert Museum

Typical Price

Later reprint or reproduction (20th-century): $50–$300
Good later impression (Edo-period): $1,000–$5,000
Good early impression (vivid color, legible detail): $5,000–$20,000
Fine early impression (exceptional color and condition): $20,000–$60,000

Hokusai's genre scenes, bijin-ga (beautiful women), and miscellaneous subjects represent the breadth of his career across more than seven decades. The market for non-landscape Hokusai prints has strengthened as collectors seek beyond the most famous designs.

Description

The Kibune Shrine, set in a narrow valley north of Kyoto where the Kibune River flows through dense cedar forests, is depicted in this print from Hokusai's mid-1780s series of fashionable places. The shrine's remote, cool gorge made it a destination for summer visitors seeking relief from the heat of the capital, and it remained a subject of visual fascination for its combination of rushing water, deep shade, and ancient wooden architecture.