Sphinx in May

Sphinx in May (1970), etching by Masuo Ikeda. A dark-haired figure with a heavy black cloak or mane frames a pale face at the top of the composition, set against a green ground bordered by a red rectangle in the upper right. Below, a pair of bent, sharply outlined pale legs and two white hands with articulated fingers curve forward from the dark drapery, set against the striped dark fabric of the cloaked form. The palette is limited to black, green, red, and off-white, with the print signed and numbered in pencil in the lower margins.