Untitled

Among Kiyochika's untitled abstract prints, this work may reflect his interest in the rain-at-night subject that recurs throughout his kosen-ga series. Rain complicates the woodblock print's relationship with light: falling water diffuses illumination from below — gas lamps, lanterns, fires — while simultaneously darkening and obscuring the surfaces it strikes. Kiyochika's rain compositions typically show diagonal strokes of fine lines incised against a darkened ground, with light sources depicted as blooming zones of reflected brightness on wet pavement or water surfaces. The overall effect, when achieved through careful [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) printing on absorbent [washi](/glossary/washi), approximates the visual complexity of a rain-soaked Meiji-era street more closely than any earlier [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) had managed.