Early Summer
- Date:
- 1958
- Medium:
- Stencil
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
$500–$4,000. Common prints: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: As an early sosaku-hanga champion, Nagase's prints have historical significance. Bold, expressive woodcuts are most valued.
The transition from spring to summer arrives in this 1958 stencil print, where warmth and lengthening daylight transform the landscape. Nagase uses the katazome-influenced stencil technique rather than carved woodblocks, producing areas of flat color with crisp edges defined by cut paper or card stencils. The stencil method yields a different visual quality than woodblock: smoother color fields, sharper boundaries, and a graphic clarity that suits the bright, unambiguous light of early summer. The season's character, that moment when the air first carries real heat and vegetation reaches full density, is conveyed through palette and compositional openness rather than specific botanical or topographic detail.
広隆寺牛祭
Woodblock print
二月 (伏見稲荷大社祭)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
七月 (祇園祭山鉾巡行)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
八月 (三条大橋より大文字)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Early Summer was created by Nagase Yoshio (永瀬義郎) in 1958.
Early Summer uses Stencil Print, on stencil.
Early Summer depicts summer.
