Chrysantemum

A kacho-e study of the chrysanthemum (kiku), a flower laden with associations of autumn, longevity, and the imperial household. Kasamatsu produced botanical subjects throughout his sosaku-hanga period from the 1950s onward, when he increasingly carved and printed many of his works himself rather than rely on a publisher's craftsmen. The composition would typically isolate the bloom against a plain or graded ground, the petals built up through multiple registered impressions and the leaves modeled with bokashi shading along the central vein. Although Kasamatsu is principally known for atmospheric landscapes, these flower subjects place him alongside Ohara Koson within the twentieth-century kacho-e revival. The restrained palette and reliance on negative space distinguish his treatment from the denser, more decorative chrysanthemum prints of the Edo period.