Hair

The third print sharing the title Hair, this mokuhanga rounds out a small group within Takasawa Keiichi's output devoted to the same subject — a woman seen primarily through the dark mass of her hair. The repetition across three separate sheets is itself a meaningful artistic choice: rather than producing a single definitive image, the artist tests alternative compositions, croppings, or color states of one motif, a practice consistent with sōsaku-hanga's emphasis on the print as an autonomous artwork carved, printed, and signed by the artist. Technically, prints of this kind rely on a strong keyblock for the hair contour, careful bokashi to model the transition from dark hair into lighter skin or background, and clean registration of any color blocks. Together, the three Hair prints form a coherent subgroup within the documented Takasawa Keiichi corpus.