Fisherman

Two figures in dark happi coats with white kanji lettering stand bent over a cluster of woven baskets, handling black cormorants perched on the basket rims; one figure wears a rounded white cap, the other a black peaked cap and a straw or grass skirt. Behind them stands a tall conical woven hat and coiled rope or netting against a plain grey wall, with a red seal mark in the lower right corner. The palette is muted—grey, black, cream, and tan—with touches of blue on the cap and cord. Wada Sanzo, "Fisherman," 1940, color woodblock print.