Pagoda and Crows at Sunset

Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Publisher:: Watanabe Shozaburo
Edition:

Published by Watanabe Shozaburo

Source:

Typical Price

Shotei produced a wide range of subjects throughout his career under publishers Watanabe and Daikokuya. Signed, sealed lifetime editions consistently outperform unsigned export-market copies.

Export editions or later printings: $100–$500
Signed lifetime editions: $500–$2,500
Premium impressions with provenance: $2,500–$8,000

Description

A pagoda rises against the sky at the hour of sunset, its silhouette darkening as the surrounding air turns amber, while crows wheel in formation above or around the tower — their black forms cutting across the warm sky. The crow-and-pagoda combination was one of the most evocative subjects in the repertoire of Japanese atmospheric landscape: the birds' daily return to their roost at dusk giving the ancient architecture an animating counterpoint. Shotei's composition exploits the dramatic contrast between the birds' movement and the tower's absolute stillness.