Lantern - 行燈
- Date:
- 1940
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Ohmi Gallery
$1,500–$12,000. Common subjects: $1,500–$4,000. Key value factors: Shimura's refined bijin-ga have a devoted collector base. Earlier prints and rarer subjects command premiums.
Dated 1940, this [oban](/glossary/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.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Lantern - 行燈 was created by Shimura Tatsumi (志村立美) in 1940.
Lantern - 行燈 was published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1940).
Lantern - 行燈 depicts daily life.
