Untitled

Kiyochika's work in the abstract mode draws on his understanding of Western atmospheric painting, particularly the treatment of air as a medium that modifies all light passing through it. In this untitled print, forms are likely depicted at the threshold of visibility — emerging from or dissolving into ambient illumination — rather than presented with the clear outline and flat color fill of conventional ukiyo-e. The carver's contribution to such a composition is paradoxically one of restraint: fewer incised lines, less crisp definition, allowing the printer's bokashi application to do the primary work of describing spatial depth. This reversal of the traditional hierarchy between carver and printer is characteristic of Kiyochika's most innovative work.