Rain
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Typical Price
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.
- Common examples: $100–$500
- Good impressions: $500–$2,000
- Premium/scarce: $2,000–$10,000
Description
This woodblock print takes rain as its sole declared subject, stripping away the specificity of location, season, or time of day to focus on precipitation itself as a visual and atmospheric phenomenon. Miyamoto Shufu's single-word title suggests a pure engagement with rainfall as a subject worthy of independent attention rather than as a weather condition applied to a landscape. The print likely renders rain through the traditional technique of fine carved lines printed in gray ink, creating a directional pattern that dominates the composition. The background landscape, if present, serves the rain rather than the other way around. Shufu's dedication to atmospheric effects makes rain a natural subject for sustained exploration, and this print may represent his most distilled statement on the visual possibilities of falling water.
