Still Life Prints (407)
Still life subjects (seibutsu-ga) in Japanese woodblock prints encompass arrangements of objects — flowers in vases, fruit, pottery, books, musical instruments, seasonal decorations — that reveal the aesthetic sensibilities and material culture of their era. While less prominent than landscape or figure subjects, still life prints produced some of the tradition's most technically refined works, particularly in the surimono format of privately commissioned luxury prints. The surimono tradition of the late Edo period raised still life printing to its highest level, with artists creating elaborate compositions of carefully arranged objects using metallic pigments, blind embossing (karazuri), and other special techniques. These prints, often commissioned for poetry circles or New Year celebrations, combined visual beauty with literary allusion, as each object carried symbolic meaning accessible to educated viewers. Modern still life prints developed in two directions. Shin-hanga artists produced refined floral arrangements and seasonal compositions that continued the decorative tradition. Sosaku-hanga artists used still life subjects as vehicles for formal experimentation, abstracting everyday objects into bold compositions of color and shape. Artists like Saito Kiyoshi and Watanabe Sadao transformed simple subjects — persimmons, pottery, garden stones — into modernist compositions that brought the still life tradition into dialogue with international contemporary art.
Artists Known for Still Life
Stones (I)
1960
Color woodblock print; edition 5/30
Sample lithograph 03 (still life)
Stone lithograph
Petit Noir
Woodblock print
Oleander
Woodblock print
Waterlily Season, Shôwa period, dated 1959
Woodblock print
Orchids
1916
Woodblock print
Yellow Jonquil
1919
Color woodblock print
Wooden Horses from Naha and Mutsu
mid–20th century
Color woodblock print
Necklace A (Kubikazari A), Shôwa period, dated 1964
Woodblock print
Peonies
n.d.
Color woodblock print; surimono
Red Pot from Turkey
1919
Woodblock print
Lindenberries (Bodaiju no mi)
1963
Woodblock print
Mizusashi (Water-jar) / Ichimoku-shu (First Thursday Collection, Vol 2)
Woodblock print
Poem No. 22: A Seashell
抒情 No.22 貝殻
1953
Color woodblock print
Mirror Number One
1970
Woodblock print
Three Gourds (Kabocha)
1963
Woodblock print
Wild Keshi
1930
Woodcut print
September; Chrysanthemums
Woodblock print
Lace
1930
Woodcut print
Kokeshi doll
Woodblock print
Unknown, Face and Shell
Woodblock print
Tear Stone
Woodblock print
The Kokeshi Dolls: Kami no yama, Kamasaki, Hanamaki, and Kijiyama
Woodblock print
Shells and Butterflies
Woodblock print
Candle Light
Woodblock print
Kokeshi, Shôwa period,
Woodblock print
3/4 Rosette with Fleur de Lis from Center
1930s
Woodblock print
Thistle and Leaves
20th century
Woodcut print
Turkish Brass Donkey (Toruku shinchu no roba)
1976
Woodblock print
Ripe Pomegranates
Woodblock print
![Title unknown [Flowers in a vase] by Sumio Kawakami](https://1.api.artsmia.org/800/135636.jpg)
Title unknown [Flowers in a vase]
c. 1960
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Plant
20th century
Woodcut print
Dried Flowers
Woodblock print
Object A
オブジェ A
1953
Color woodblock print with collage elements
Stone Image of Bishunu
20th century
Woodblock print
Miroku
Woodblock print
Flowers
Woodblock print
Rakusan Tsuchiya (1886-?) Rakuzan
Woodblock print
Bento from the Wife (Sarari-man Bentō)
サラリーマン弁当
Etching, aquatint, collagraph
Dolls
Woodblock print
White Chrysanthemums
Woodblock print
Mitate No.62 - Caddy Spoon (Mei)
2003
Large Chrysanthemums - 大菊
Woodblock print
Untitled (okumura-koichi)
Woodblock print
Pomegranate
Woodblock print
Mitate No.30 - Shells (Kaigara)
2000
Mitate No.66 - Jomon Earthenware (Jomon)
2004
Flowers — 華燈
Woodblock print
Berries
Woodblock print
Untitled (tsuchiya-rakuzan)
Woodblock print
Dahlias
1936
Woodblock print
Untitled (chigusa-kotani)
Woodblock print
Lemon (Holiday Card from Yamanaka, 1956), Shôwa period, dated 1959
Woodblock print
Mitate No.90 - Scissors (Hasami)
2011
Saddle
1963
Color woodblock print; edition 72/80
HANA (flowers) 77-B
Woodblock print
Camellias
Woodblock print
Harvard Art Museum
Woodblock print
Persimmons
Woodblock print
Chapter 4 - The Bottle Gourds
Woodblock print
Related Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
Still life subjects (seibutsu-ga) in Japanese woodblock prints encompass arrangements of objects — flowers in vases, fruit, pottery, books, musical instruments, seasonal decorations — that reveal the aesthetic sensibilities and material culture of their era. While less prominent than landscape or figure subjects, still life prints produced some of the tradition's most technically refined works, particularly in the surimono format of privately commissioned luxury prints.
Ohno Bakufu, Nana Shiomi, and Hiratsuka Un'ichi are among the artists most associated with still life in our collection. Browse the full list of artists who explored this subject above.
Hanga currently catalogues 407 prints tagged with still life, spanning ukiyo-e, shin-hanga, and sōsaku-hanga traditions where applicable.