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Two Puppies in the Snow by Kawanabe Kyosai — Japanese Woodblock print

Two Puppies in the Snow

by Kawanabe Kyosai

Medium:
Woodblock print
Format:
Oban

Typical Price

  • Uncommon or exceptional Kyosai subject in fine condition: $1,000–$5,000
  • Good condition standard woodblock print: $300–$1,500
  • Common or lesser subject: $100–$500

Description

Two puppies tumble in the snow in a composition of pure pleasure, their small bodies leaving pawprints and hollows in the white ground as they play with the uninhibited energy of young creatures encountering winter for the first time. Kyosai's animal subjects reveal a side of his talent that his reputation as a satirist and provocateur can obscure: a genuine delight in the physical life of animals, their bodies responding to the world with a directness unavailable to self-conscious humans. Snow enhanced the composition's visual impact, the puppies' dark forms against the paper-white ground creating maximum contrast.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Two Puppies in the Snow was created by Kawanabe Kyosai (河鍋暁斎).

Two Puppies in the Snow depicts snow scenes.