The Sea (Umi)
- Date:
- 1937
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; triptych
- Format:
- Oban triptych
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
"The Sea (Umi)" of 1937, executed as a color woodblock triptych, is one of Onchi's most ambitious marine compositions — the three-panel format giving the ocean subject the expansive horizontal space its scale demands. Made in the final years before the Pacific War would literally transform Japan's relationship to the sea, this triptych renders the ocean with the formal grandeur appropriate to its mythological and experiential significance. The triptych format itself carries art-historical weight, from Buddhist altar triptychs to European academic painting, which Onchi deploys in service of his most contemporary subject matter.
More Prints by Onchi Koshiro
More Seascapes Prints
Child of the Sea
1940
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Pacific Ocean, Awa Province (Boshu Taikai), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Third Series (Tabi miyage dai sanshu)"
Boshu Taikai
1925
Color woodblock print; oban
Pine Beach at Miho (Miho no Matsubara), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"
September 1931
Color woodblock print; oban
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Sea (Umi) was created by Onchi Koshiro (恩地孝四郎) in 1937.
The Sea (Umi) depicts seascapes.