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.
A second impression or variant of Okazaki Shintaro's moonlit Seto Inland Sea scene showing junks returning home. This version likely differs from its companion in subtle ways: perhaps a shift in the position of clouds across the moon, a variation in the darkness of the water, or differences in how ink was applied during the printing process. Such variants were common in woodblock printing, where the artist or printer could modulate the impression by adjusting pressure, ink density, or moisture on successive pulls. The Seto Inland Sea at night offered Okazaki a subject perfectly suited to the woodblock medium's strengths in rendering graduated tones and atmospheric depth. Each variant captures a slightly different moment in the same eternal scene of boats crossing moonlit water toward harbor.
1940
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Boshu Taikai
1925
Color woodblock print; oban
September 1931
Color woodblock print; oban
No Series Returning Junks Seto Inland Sea In Moonlight was created by Okazaki Shintaro (岡崎紳太郎).
No Series Returning Junks Seto Inland Sea In Moonlight depicts seascapes, moonlight, and night scenes, set at Seto Inland Sea.
