Grasses on the Roof
- Date:
- 1981
- Medium:
- Etching
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
$1,000–$6,000. Common subjects: $1,000–$2,000. Key value factors: Tanaka's exquisite farmhouse etchings are beloved by collectors worldwide. Since his death in 2019, prices have firmed. Traditional thatched-roof subjects are most popular.
An etching from 1981 that turns its attention to the roof — not the full building, but the grasses and wild plants that colonize the aging thatch of a rural farmhouse. Tanaka finds in this humble detail a subject of extraordinary richness: the interplay of cultivated shelter and encroaching nature, the soft texture of living vegetation against the rigid geometry of roof construction. Grasses on a thatched roof signal both the passage of seasons and the slow reclamation of human structures by the natural world.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Grasses on the Roof was created by Tanaka Ryohei (田中良平) in 1981.
Grasses on the Roof uses Etching, on etching.
Grasses on the Roof depicts architecture.
