Beauty subjects are especially sought after in this category. 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.
From 1897, this bijin-ga print places a beautiful woman (bijin) in a pleasure boat on the water, playing the biwa (lute) — a combination of feminine beauty, musical accomplishment, and the specific leisure culture of the river. The biwa, associated with cultured feminine accomplishment, gives the subject an aristocratic overtone, while the boat setting evokes the urban pleasure-boating culture of the Sumida River and other waterways that was a fixture of Meiji-era recreation. Shuntei renders the scene with the technical refinement appropriate to a subject combining multiple elements of classical Japanese aesthetic appreciation.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Bijin in a boat with a Biwa was created by Miyagawa Shuntei (宮川春汀) in 1897.
Bijin in a boat with a Biwa depicts music, boats & ships, and bijin-ga.
