$500–$5,000. Common mountain prints: $500–$1,500. Key value factors: Azechi's cheerful mountain prints have consistent demand. Larger and more complex compositions are most valued.
The 1959 Observing Eye, edition 4 of 20—a very small edition, likely a highly personal or experimental print—depicts the fundamental act of mountaineering perception: the climber's trained eye reading terrain, weather, snow conditions, and route possibility with the accumulated intelligence of long experience. The observing eye was Azechi's eye as well as his mountain man's, the artist and the climber sharing the same quality of concentrated attention that made both practices possible.
1944 (printed c. 1950 from recut block?)
Color woodblock print; oban
1944 (printed c. 1950 from recut block?)
Color woodblock print; oban
1945
Color woodblock print
1961
Color woodblock print; edition 10/100
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Woodblock print
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
The Observing Eye was created by Umetaro Azechi (畦地梅太郎) in 1959.
The Observing Eye depicts landscapes, figures, and mountains.