$500–$4,000. Common prints: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Ogawa Usen's literati-influenced landscapes have a niche following among collectors of nihonga-related prints.
This oban-format woodblock print by Ogawa Usen presents a landscape populated with human figures, combining two subjects central to his artistic practice. Usen trained in the nihonga tradition, studying Japanese-style painting before producing woodblock prints that carried his painterly sensibility into the printed medium. The figures in the landscape follow a convention reaching back to Chinese literati painting, where small human forms provide scale and narrative within vast natural settings. Usen's prints are marked by a loose, calligraphic line quality that distinguishes them from the tighter draftsmanship of commercial ukiyo-e, reflecting his fine-art background. This print was sourced through the Robyn Buntin gallery, a Honolulu-based dealer specializing in Asian art.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Print 1 was created by Ogawa Usen (小川芋銭).
Print 1 depicts landscapes and figures.
