Scene with a Watergate
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
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.
This woodblock print depicts a watergate, a sluice or control structure where human engineering manages the flow of natural waterways. Miyamoto Shufu finds visual interest in this functional piece of hydraulic infrastructure, treating the gate's geometry and its interaction with flowing water as subjects worthy of aesthetic attention. The watergate creates a point of controlled transition where water is directed, divided, or held back, and Shufu's composition likely frames this moment of intervention within the broader landscape. The structure's wooden or stone construction provides hard-edged forms that contrast with the fluid, irregular surface of the water it controls. Shufu's landscape eye transforms utilitarian architecture into a scene of quiet drama, where the contest between natural flow and human order plays out in the modest theater of a rural waterway.
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Scene with a Watergate was created by Miyamoto Shufu (宮本秋風).
Scene with a Watergate depicts landscapes, rivers & lakes, and architecture.
