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 combines two of Miyamoto Shufu's recurring subjects, rain and trees, through the specific image of willows in a downpour. Willow trees have an ancient association with rain in East Asian art, their drooping branches already suggesting falling water even in dry weather. When actual rain arrives, the willows' long, pliant fronds merge with the precipitation to create a visual continuity between tree and weather that Shufu exploits to powerful effect. The willow's vertical cascading lines echo and reinforce the diagonal slashes of rain, so that the boundary between vegetable and mineral water dissolves. Shufu's rendering likely uses fine carved lines for both rain and willow fronds, unifying the two elements through shared technique. The print transforms a common scene, a willow in the rain, into a study of how natural forms mirror each other.
1962
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
c. 1833-36
Woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
Ame no Omiya
1930
Color woodblock print; oban
Teradomari no yau
1921
Color woodblock print; oban
Willow Rain was created by Miyamoto Shufu (宮本秋風).
Willow Rain depicts rain and trees.
