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- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Waseda University
- Image courtesy of
- Waseda University
Description
This unidentified Kiyochika print belongs to the body of work in which he applied Western tonal techniques to Japanese subjects and settings. Kiyochika's training under the Western-style painter Shimooka Renjō gave him an acute sensitivity to the behavior of artificial and natural light — lamplight, moonlight, firelight, and the diffuse glow of overcast skies — qualities that define his kosen-ga atmospheric prints. Without a surviving title, the print's subject remains unconfirmed, but the graphic conventions of the Meiji woodblock trade suggest it may belong to a topographic, historical, or military series. The artist's characteristic use of [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradation and spare compositional geometry would be evident in the sky and ground planes, setting atmospheric mood before foregrounding any figure or structure.