Kasamatsu Shiro – Carp pond

Original woodblock print. The first edition of this design was published in 1957. The current print was printed in the Reiwa period (2019 – present).

One of the areas where Kasamatsu Shiro excelled, along with the carvers and printers involved, was the depiction of water. In his designs waves, reflection, submersion and objects floating on top of the water are all captured perfectly, even if quite simple. In this print one is truly looking at two submerged carps, below a surface with petals floating on top. Interestlingly, Kasamatsu Shiro made a similar design one year before, called Waves of Petals. That one features three carps, and much more petals. Kasamatsu Shiro worked both in Sosaku-hanga style, controlling the designing, carving and printing of the artwork all himself, and in Shin-hanga style, working for a publisher along with a carver and printer. His earlier Waves of Petals was made in Sosaku-hanga style, and the current one in Shin-hanga style. Besides the big differences of the prints themselves, there is also a wide gap in price, as the Waves of Petals print was made in numbered limited edition and is hard to find these years. Luckily then the current print has been reprinted recently with its original woodblocks and is readily available.

Image size (excluding margins): 36.8 * 24.8 cm (14.5 * 9.8 in).

The print is in excellent condition.

The pictures shown here are from the print itself.

—

Kasamatsu Shiro (1898-1991) was a prolific and famous woodblock artist. When only aged thirteen he started as an apprentice. He could trace part of his artistic lineage back via Kaburagi and Yoshitoshi, connecting him to the great Ukiyo-e masters of the 19th century.

He created many prints in the Shin-Hanga style. Many of these depicted traditional themes like landscapes and temples, but within that Shiro displayed great diversity. His prints in the period of 1952-1960 in this style were very successful. This enabled him to experiment and he started working in the Sōsaku-Hanga (creative prints) movement as well, not only designing but also carving and printing himself.

See an overview of Kasamatsu Shiro's woodblock prints