Key value factors: As self-carved and self-printed works, sosaku-hanga value is tied to the artist's reputation and edition size. Larger formats, earlier editions, and historically significant works command the highest prices.
The celebrated pine-clad islands of Matsushima Bay, long ranked among Japan's three most scenic views. Kosaka Gajin depicts the scattered rock formations and wind-bent pines that have drawn poets and artists to this stretch of the Miyagi coastline for centuries. The basho poet Matsuo Basho famously found the islands so beautiful he could only write their name repeatedly. Kosaka's woodblock rendering captures the way the islands appear to float on calm water, their dark pine silhouettes contrasting with pale sky and sea. The horizontal composition emphasizes the panoramic sweep of the bay's many small islets.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Landscape at Matsushima was created by Kosaka Gajin (上坂雅人).
Landscape at Matsushima depicts landscapes, set at Matsushima.
