Woodpecker

"Woodpecker" continues Hiratsuka Un'ichi's reinterpretation of the [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e) (bird-and-flower) tradition through the visual language of [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga). Where Edo-period kacho-e relied on graded color and printed [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) to suggest atmosphere, Hiratsuka builds the bird's form from cut planes of black ink against unprinted washi, letting the paper itself carry the negative space. The composition likely places the bird vertically along a tree trunk, a pose drawn from observation rather than the symmetrical perch conventions of [nishiki-e](/glossary/nishiki-e). Knife marks remain visible in the carved block, a deliberate trace of the artist's hand consistent with sosaku-hanga's insistence that the maker design, carve, and print the work himself. As a founding figure of the movement and a pupil influenced by Yamamoto Kanae, Hiratsuka used such bird subjects to demonstrate how a traditional theme could be reduced to its essential graphic logic without recourse to the collaborative [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) workshop.