The Bright of Evening

Date:: About 1954
Medium:: Woodblock print
Edition:: Self-printed
Source:: Art Institute of Chicago

Typical Price

Rare early signed work in excellent condition: $5,000–$25,000
Fine signed mid-century print: $2,000–$8,000
Good condition signed example: $500–$2,500

Description

"The Bright of Evening" — dated "About 1954," catalogued 1949 — captures the particular quality of light at the end of the day: the moment when the sun has set but the sky still holds its brightness before night falls. Munakata was alert to these transitional light conditions throughout his landscape work, finding in the evening brightness a subject of contemplative depth. The print's title is precise about the quality of light — not the sunset itself, not the night, but the specific brightness that outlasts the sun's direct presence, the sky holding its luminosity as a final gift of the departing day.

More Prints by Shiko Munakata

Flying Over the Mountains (Yamagoe), from the series "The Tale of the Auklet (Uto Hanga-kan)"

1960

Woodblock print

Bodhisattva Manjusri (Monju bosatsu no saku), from the series Ten Great Disciples of the Buddha Sakyamuni (Shaka jûdai deshi), Shôwa period, undated (block carved 1948)

Shôwa period, 1926-1989

Woodblock print

Ragora (Rahula), from the series "Two Bodhisattva and Ten Great Disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni (Nibosatsu Shaka judai deshi)"

1939-68

Woodblock print

Ubari (Upali), from the series "Two Bodhisattva and Ten Great Disciples of Buddha Sakyamuni (Nibosatsu Shaka judai deshi)"

1939 (printed 1955)

Woodblock print

More Night Scenes Prints

Evening in East Africa

Woodblock print

Evening Shower at Teradomari (Teradomari no yau), from the series "Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series (Tabi miyage dai nishu)"

Teradomari no yau

1921

Color woodblock print; oban

Mount Fuji on a Moonlit Night, Kawai Bridge (Tsukiyo no Fuji [Kawaibashi]), from the series "Selection of Views of the Tokaido (Tokaido fukei senshu)"

1947

Color woodblock print; oban

Evening Moon at Nakanoshima, Sapporo (Sapporo Nakanoshima no yuzuki), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan, Eastern Japan Edition (Nihon fukei shu higashi Nihon hen)"

March 1933

Color woodblock print; oban

Featured in Collections

Curated cross-cuts that include this print.

Sōsaku-Hanga: The Creative-Print Movement

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bright of Evening was created by Shiko Munakata (棟方志功) in About 1954.

The Bright of Evening depicts night scenes.