$500–$4,000. Common landscapes: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Maeda Masao's atmospheric mountain and landscape prints have a dedicated following among sosaku-hanga collectors.
CH1-Kiritsubo (桐壺) illustrates the opening chapter of The Tale of Genji — "The Paulownia Court" — in which the Emperor's deep love for the Lady Kiritsubo, mother of the future Genji, leads to her death from the hostility of court factions jealous of her favor. Maeda Masao's first Genji chapter illustration establishes the visual language for his entire series: the flattened perspective, pattern-based backgrounds, and elegant figure silhouettes that interpret Murasaki Shikibu's aristocratic world through a modern sosaku-hanga graphic sensibility. The paulownia tree that gives the lady her court name appears as a compositional motif.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
CH1- Kiritsubo — 桐壺 was created by Maeda Masao (前田政雄).
CH1- Kiritsubo — 桐壺 depicts figures, bijin-ga, and interiors.
