Carp pond

Description

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 with apparent ease. In this print one is truly looking at two submerged carps, below a surface with petals floating on top. Interestingly, Kasamatsu Shiro made a similar design one year before, called Waves of Petals. That one features three carps, and many 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 increasingly difficult to find. Fortunately, the current print has been reprinted from the original woodblocks and is readily available.