Untitled

Kiyochika's untitled abstract works reveal his interest in the woodblock print as a medium capable of depicting atmospheric phenomena that had been largely absent from earlier [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e). Snow, fog, rain, and smoke presented him with subjects that are, by nature, resistant to sharp outline — the dominant formal device of traditional printmaking. In this print, the degradation or obscuring of form is likely itself the subject: buildings or landscape elements visible only partially through atmospheric interference, their edges lost in gradated ink washes. This approach required Kiyochika's printer to apply pigment with unusual delicacy, using partial dampening of the [washi](/glossary/washi) to achieve the soft, absorbed quality that characterizes the best impressions.