Mountain Path in Autum
- Date:
- 1946
- Medium:
- Woodblock print, ink on paper
- Dimensions:
- 38.1 × 49.5 cm
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
$500–$4,000. Common prints: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Sasajima's meditative prints appeal to collectors of both Japanese prints and modern art.
Dated 1946, this ink-on-paper woodblock print shows a mountain path in autumn, when deciduous trees shift from green to the warm spectrum of red, orange, and gold. Working in ink alone, Sasajima must convey the season's color through tonal variation rather than pigment, a constraint that pushes the image toward abstraction. The textures of the carved woodblock stand in for the varied surfaces of autumn foliage, bare branches, and rocky trail. This early print places Sasajima within the sosaku-hanga tradition at a pivotal moment, when the movement was rebuilding after the war years and artists were finding that Japan's natural landscapes offered subjects untouched by the destruction that had transformed urban environments. The mountain path in autumn carries overtones of the Buddhist understanding of impermanence.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Mountain Path in Autum was created by Kihei Sasajima (笹島喜平) in 1946.
Mountain Path in Autum depicts landscapes and mountains.
Mountain Path in Autum measures 38.1 × 49.5 cm.
