Snow and night scenes traditionally command higher prices. 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 the Tsukinami series, this woodblock print depicts a winter night accompanied by poetry. Tsukinami refers to monthly or seasonal themes, a structuring principle with deep roots in Japanese literary and artistic tradition. The combination of winter and nighttime poetry creates a scene of contemplative solitude, likely showing a figure reading or composing verse by lamplight while the cold season presses in from outside. Fukazawa's woodblock technique renders the darkness of the winter night through deep indigo and black inks, with warm light sources providing contrast that draws the eye. The poetic element of the title connects the image to a literary tradition where winter nights were valued as occasions for reflection, the cold and darkness making interior warmth and the company of words all the more precious.
Woodblock print
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
1932
Woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Winter, poem at night. Series: Tsukinami. was created by Sakuichi Fukazawa (深沢索一).
Winter, poem at night. Series: Tsukinami. depicts snow scenes, night scenes, and winter.
