Hirugao - ひるがお
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Key value factors: As self-carved and self-printed works, sosaku-hanga value is tied to the artist's reputation and edition size. Larger formats, earlier editions, and historically significant works command the highest prices.
Hirugao (ひるがお, field bindweed or morning glory) — a delicate flowering vine that opens its trumpet-shaped blossoms in the morning and closes them by afternoon, its ephemerality making it a natural emblem of transience and the pleasures of a particular hour. Nakajima Kiyoshi's choice of this modest wildflower as a subject reflects his broader interest in the natural world's small, easily overlooked beauties — the bindweed growing in a field, catching the morning light for a few hours before closing again. His painterly woodblock technique renders the vine's slender tendrils and soft pink blossoms with the freshness of direct observation.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Hirugao - ひるがお was created by Nakajima Kiyoshi (中島潔).
Hirugao - ひるがお depicts birds & flowers, figures, and bijin-ga.
