Lantern - 行燈

Dated 1940, this oban woodblock print depicts a woman in the glow of an andon, a traditional Japanese paper lantern. Shimura Tatsumi uses the lantern's soft, diffused light to model his subject's features and kimono with a warm luminosity that contrasts against the surrounding darkness. The andon casts a contained circle of light, creating an intimate space within the larger darkness. This early work already shows Shimura's sensitivity to the way different light sources transform a figure's appearance, a concern that would remain central to his art throughout his career. The 1940 date places this print at the beginning of his mature period.