$5,000–$200,000+. Reproduction prints: $5,000–$15,000. Key value factors: Shoen's paintings are far more valuable than prints. Authenticity and provenance are critical.
Two or more figures engage in a blindfold game, a traditional pastime that appears in Japanese art as both children's play and adult entertainment at seasonal gatherings. Shoen's rendering captures the kinetic moment of the game: the blindfolded player reaching out with uncertain hands while the others dodge and laugh. This subject allows Shoen to depict women in motion rather than repose, their bodies twisting and leaning in ways that reveal the physical vitality beneath formal kimono. The game's social dimension, requiring trust, humor, and physical proximity, creates an intimacy among the figures that Shoen conveys through their spatial relationships and body language. The woodblock medium freezes a moment that in life would pass in seconds, preserving the suspended instant between the blindfolded player's reach and the others' evasion in permanent form.
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Blindfold Game was created by Uemura Shoen (上村松園).
Blindfold Game depicts figures, bijin-ga, and daily life.
