A fight near the coast
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Museum of Applied Arts Vienna
- Image courtesy of
- Museum of Applied Arts Vienna
Description
This coastal battle print is one of multiple works by Kiyochika sharing the same or similar title, suggesting it may be a companion piece or variant within a war-print series. Published for a mass market eager for visual reports from the fronts of Japan's late Meiji conflicts, prints of this type were produced quickly but within Kiyochika's consistent technical standards. Coastal subjects suited his compositional instincts: the flat expanse of sea and sky provided the kind of tonal field he modulated through bokashi, while the foreground action — soldiers advancing, ships firing — gave the print its narrative content. The format likely follows the oban convention standard for this genre, with horizontal compositions favored for battle subjects over the vertical format more common in his urban meisho-e.
More Prints by Kobayashi Kiyochika
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
A fight near the coast was created by Kobayashi Kiyochika (小林清親).
A fight near the coast depicts landscapes.