Blue Night
- Medium:
- Woodblock print with collagraph and metallic leaf
- Image courtesy of
- Verne Gallery
Blue Night grounds Tamekane's abstracted approach within the tradition of nocturnal landscape imagery. The dominant blue tonal field — likely built through multiple woodblock passes — establishes the atmospheric compression of a dark sky pressing down on a dark earth, with gradations that evoke both starless skies and deep water. Collagraph textures animate this field, suggesting tree lines, architectural silhouettes, or the play of artificial light on uneven terrain without resolving into any specific image. Metallic leaf contributes a critical function here, introducing glints analogous to moonlight or lamp-glow that puncture the surrounding darkness. The print operates in the atmospheric register of Kawase Hasui's snow and night scenes, but without narrative specificity, directing the viewer's experience toward mood rather than place.
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.
Blue Night was created by Yoshikatsu Tamekane (為金義勝).
Blue Night depicts landscapes and night scenes.
