Milky Way Festival — 七夕祭
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Typical Price
$500–$4,000. Common subjects: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Maekawa's early sosaku-hanga works are historically significant. Bold, expressive prints are most valued.
Description
The Milky Way Festival — Tanabata, "七夕祭," the celebration of the meeting of the stellar lovers Vega and Altair across the Milky Way, held on the seventh day of the seventh month — is Senpan's subject in this undated summer print. Tanabata was one of Japan's most beloved summer festivals, its custom of writing wishes on colored strips of paper and hanging them from bamboo branches creating a distinctive visual spectacle that combined the astronomical poetry of the festival's origin story with the communal pleasure of a summer evening outdoors. Senpan captures the festival's particular mixture of the celestial and the earthly.
More Prints by Maekawa Senpan
More Summer Prints
Bull Festival at Koryuji
広隆寺牛祭
Woodblock print
February (The Annual Festival of the Fushimi Inari)
二月 (伏見稲荷大社祭)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
July (Gorgeous Procession of Yama-hoko or the Floats at the Gion Festival)
七月 (祇園祭山鉾巡行)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
August (The Bonfire Festival of the Daimonji Hill Viewed from the Sanjo Bridge)
八月 (三条大橋より大文字)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Milky Way Festival — 七夕祭 was created by Maekawa Senpan (前川千帆).
Milky Way Festival — 七夕祭 depicts summer.