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 evokes the Japanese concept of harukaze, the spring wind that carries warmth and the scent of blossoming trees across the landscape after winter's retreat. Miyamoto Shufu faces the challenge of depicting moving air, an invisible force known only through its effects on visible things. The composition may show bent grasses, wind-tossed branches, rippled water, or angled rain as evidence of the spring wind's passage through the scene. The Japanese characters in the title confirm the seasonal specificity, grounding the image in the weeks when cherry blossoms scatter and new growth emerges from dormant soil. Shufu's atmospheric rendering style is well suited to the subject, as his soft gradations can suggest the wind's presence as a diffused force that touches everything in the landscape simultaneously rather than striking any single point.
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.
Spring Wind — 春 風 was created by Miyamoto Shufu (宮本秋風).
Spring Wind — 春 風 depicts landscapes and spring.
