$500–$4,000. Common subjects: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: As an early sosaku-hanga pioneer, Kawakami's prints have historical significance. His distinctive graphic style is collected.
"New 8 Views of Japan" parodies or extends the classical Chinese tradition of "Eight Views" (Xiaoxiang baing) — a set of eight idealized landscape subjects that became a canonical format for Japanese and Chinese artists — by updating the convention with eight views of contemporary or modern Japan. Where classical "eight views" depicted mist over lakes and autumn moonlight over mountains, Kawakami's "new" version likely presented eight aspects of the Japan he knew and loved: the Ginza at night, a department store, the great torii, the harbor at Nagasaki.
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.
New 8 Views of Japan was created by Sumio Kawakami (川上澄生).
New 8 Views of Japan depicts landscapes.
