Shikotsu Lake

This second Shikotsu Lake print revisits the Hokkaido caldera lake from a different vantage or season, a common practice among [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) printmakers who returned to favored subjects to test alternative compositions and color keys. Where the first version may have emphasized the saturated indigo of deep water, this variant likely shifts the emphasis — perhaps a winter view with the surrounding peaks under snow, or a closer treatment of the shoreline with the volcanic ridges receding into atmospheric distance. [Bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations across sky and water register the lake's characteristic clarity and the cold air typical of the region. As a printmaker who carved and printed his own blocks, Maeda could iterate freely on a subject without coordinating with a publisher's workshop, and Shikotsu's recurrence in his catalogue reflects the personal attachment of a Hokkaido-born artist to the terrain of his home island. The pair of Shikotsu prints together documents his sustained engagement with the volcanic landscapes that distinguished his work from that of his [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) contemporaries.