Autumn

Autumn, created in 1927, associates a beautiful woman with the melancholy elegance of the fall season. The bijin-ga tradition frequently linked female subjects to seasonal motifs, and autumn carried particular weight in Japanese aesthetics, evoking mono no aware, the bittersweet awareness of impermanence. Shuho channels this sensibility through both the figure's expression and the surrounding palette.

Printed in ink and color on paper in oban format, the work employs the warm rusts, golds, and deep greens associated with Japanese maples and chrysanthemums. The woman's kimono likely echoes these autumnal tones, following the cultural practice of wearing patterns and colors appropriate to the season. Shuho's rendering balances decorative richness in the textile details with restrained emotion in the face, achieving the quiet contemplative mood that distinguishes his best figure work from more commercially oriented shin-hanga output.