Farewell

Farewell is part of Matsubara's Saru (Monkey) series and, by its title, suggests a composition built around departure or parting between two figures — a recurring emotional register in her animal subjects, where gesture carries the narrative weight. The print likely pairs two monkeys in postures of separation, perhaps a turned head, a raised hand, or a body oriented away from another, with the negative space of the [washi](/glossary/washi) sheet doing much of the compositional work. Matsubara's mokuhanga technique here would rely on bold, decisive carving rather than fine line, with the [baren](/glossary/baren)-pulled impressions retaining the texture of the block grain and the irregularity of hand-printing. As a [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) artist, she is the sole maker at every stage, a discipline visible in the unity of carving rhythm and ink density. Within the Saru series, Farewell exemplifies Matsubara's interest in attributing interior life to her animal subjects, drawing on a long Japanese tradition — from Choju-giga onward — of monkeys as vehicles for human emotion and reflection.