$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.
This woodblock print depicts a river flowing through a mountain valley, combining two of Sasajima's favored subjects into a single composition. The meeting of moving water and solid rock creates a visual dialogue between permanence and flux that Sasajima exploits for both formal and contemplative effect. The mountain walls frame the river, directing the viewer's eye along the water's course, while the river itself introduces motion and sound into the still image. Sasajima's carved lines must serve double duty, rendering both the hard angularity of rock and the fluid curves of current. The mountain river landscape has deep roots in East Asian ink painting, and Sasajima's woodblock version acknowledges this lineage while grounding it in the physical specificity of Japanese mountain terrain.
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 river was created by Kihei Sasajima (笹島喜平).
Mountain river depicts landscapes, rivers & lakes, and mountains.
