Great Victory of the Navy off Dagushan

Date:: October 1894
Medium:: Woodblock print (nishiki-e), ink and color on paper
Format:: Oban
Dimensions:: 37.1 × 73 cm
Source:: Minneapolis Institute of Art

Typical Price

Fine condition war print with vivid color: $500–$1,500
Good condition battle scene: $150–$600
Standard war print: $80–$250

Description

The naval engagement off Dagushan (Haiyang Island) in September 1894, part of the larger Battle of the Yellow Sea, is commemorated in this October 1894 nishiki-e. Japanese cruisers intercepted and destroyed Qing transport vessels off the Liaodong coast, a victory that complemented the simultaneous sea battle further west. Kiyochika documents the engagement with the reporter's instinct he brought to all his war imagery: a specific action, a specific location, rendered in the dramatic visual language of the nishiki-e triptych tradition.