Crossing Anjô Proceeding in Battle (Anjô o watari shingeki no zu), Meiji period, dated 1894

A third impression of the Anjō River battle composition from Kiyochika's 1894 Sino-Japanese War series. Multiple impressions of the same composition within institutional holdings reflect the print's commercial success and the scale of war print production during the conflict. Close examination of successive impressions can reveal progressive block wear in fine detail areas such as smoke, water, and vegetation, as well as variations in the printer's bokashi technique for sky and ground gradations. The Anjō crossing subject allowed Kiyochika to combine his atmospheric landscape technique with the action and reportage demands of military imagery, producing work that addressed the patriotic subject while maintaining his characteristic interest in light, atmosphere, and spatial depth.