Afternoon Nap (B)

A [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) of a woman in daytime repose — the (B) designation indicates a variant or second state of the subject, a practice not uncommon in [sosaku-hanga](/glossary/sosaku-hanga) production, where artists explored a motif across multiple compositions or color schemes. The print depicts the figure stretched out or curled in afternoon sleep, likely on a tatami floor or futon, with kimono and bedding rendered in Mori's characteristic [kappazuri](/glossary/kappazuri)-derived idiom: heavy black contour, flat opaque color, and patterning printed as if from cut paper stencils. The diagonal of the body governs the composition rather than any architectural framing. Mori returned to the sleeping or reclining female figure repeatedly throughout his career, treating the subject in the planar graphic language he absorbed from Keisuke Serizawa's katazome circle rather than the linear delicacy of classical bijin-ga. Each impression was carved and pulled by the artist himself in accordance with the sosaku-hanga doctrine of complete single-author production.