Asano's depiction of drizzling rain at Nijo Castle demonstrates his exceptional ability to render moisture in the air through layered bokashi gradations. Nijo Castle's imposing walls and grounds take on a moody elegance in wet weather. This atmospheric composition typically sells for $150-$500, representing fine value for one of his most evocative rain studies.
Drizzling Rain at Nijo Castle, dated to the early 1950s, presents the Tokugawa shogunate's Kyoto palace complex in the particular atmospheric condition of misty precipitation — the kind of fine drizzle that was characteristic of Kyoto's spring rainy season. The castle's distinctive Ninomaru Palace, with its elaborate decorative gables and the sound-proofed nightingale floors within, is seen here through a veil of rain that softened its architectural precision into something more atmospheric and seasonal. Asano's intimate knowledge of Kyoto's weather patterns gave his rain compositions an authority of observed specificity.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Drizzling Rain at Nijo Castle (二条城小雨) was created by Takeji Asano (浅野竹二) in ca. 1950s.
Drizzling Rain at Nijo Castle uses Bokashi, Nishiki-e, and Moku-hanga, on woodblock print.
Drizzling Rain at Nijo Castle was published by Unsodo (ca. 1950s).
Drizzling Rain at Nijo Castle depicts castles and rain.
