Karikatsu Valley
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
$1,000–$10,000. Common subjects: $1,000–$3,000. Key value factors: Yamakawa's limited output and early death at 46 make his prints relatively scarce. Quality bijin-ga command steady prices.
Karikatsu Valley depicts a mountainous gorge in one of Japan's rugged interior regions, where steep slopes and narrow river valleys create landscapes of concentrated natural drama. The valley setting allows Shuho to explore vertical depth, stacking layers of rock, forest, and atmospheric haze to convey the feeling of standing within a deep cut in the earth.
This [oban](/glossary/oban) woodblock print shows Shuho working outside his usual realm of female portraits. The landscape required a fundamentally different set of compositional skills: managing spatial recession through overlapping planes, rendering geological textures, and using gradations of ink density to suggest aerial perspective. The valley format naturally produces a strong sense of enclosure, with the viewer's eye drawn along the watercourse that carved this passage through the mountains over millennia. Shuho brings a painter's sensitivity to the atmospheric effects of mist and distance.
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.
Karikatsu Valley was created by Yamakawa Shuho (山川秀峰).
Karikatsu Valley was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Karikatsu Valley depicts landscapes.
