Shiro Kasamatsu, "Shimbashi in Rain"

An extraordinary and rarely seen design by Shiro Kasamatsu shows Tokyo's Shimbashi district on a rainy evening. The building's lights cast its soft glow throughout the composition, with the reflections printed on the ground meticulously to give this work a deeply atmospheric mood. White ink showing raindrops also cuts through the design and gives this piece added depth.

Date: 1935
Size: Oban
First-edition (seal C)
Publisher: Watanabe Shozaburo
Condition: Excellent color and condition
Frame Shown: 16" x 24" x 1/2", Classic Wood, Ebony

Shiro Kasamatsu (1898-1991) began his artistic career during the shin-hanga period and would go on to produce some of Japan's most recognizable woodblock prints. Starting in second-half of the 20th century, Shiro would go on to carve, print, and publish his own prints, making him an influential artist in the sosaku-hanga movement as well.