Snowy Valley
- Date:
- 1959
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; edition 2/12
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Typical Price
$500–$5,000. Snow and night scenes tend to command premium prices for this artist. Key value factors: Azechi's cheerful mountain prints have consistent demand. Larger and more complex compositions are most valued.
Description
The 1959 Snowy Valley, edition 2 of 12—an exceptionally small edition suggesting a very personal or experimental print—shows Azechi working with minimal commercial intention on a subject of deep personal significance. The snowy valley as seen from the heights above, or perhaps from within the valley looking up at the enclosing slopes, gave him a compositional space of contained verticality: the valley walls rising on both sides, the floor a white plain below, the sky a narrow band above.
More Prints by Umetaro Azechi
A House in the City (Machi no ie), from the series "Manchuria (Manshu)"
1944 (printed c. 1950 from recut block?)
Color woodblock print; oban
Red Wall (Akai kabe), from the series "Manchuria (Manshu)"
1944 (printed c. 1950 from recut block?)
Color woodblock print; oban
Cemetery at Sengakuji, from the series Recollections of Tokyo
1945
Color woodblock print
Brilliance
1961
Color woodblock print; edition 10/100
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Snowy Valley was created by Umetaro Azechi (畦地梅太郎) in 1959.
Snowy Valley depicts landscapes and snow scenes.