Withered Leaf
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Source:
- Japanese Art Open Database
Typical Price
Key value factors: As self-carved and self-printed works, sosaku-hanga value is tied to the artist's reputation and edition size. Larger formats, earlier editions, and historically significant works command the highest prices.
- Common examples: $100–$500
- Good impressions: $500–$2,000
- Premium/scarce: $2,000–$10,000
Description
A withered leaf — the leaf after summer's fullness has departed, its form preserved through desiccation but its color changed and its edges curled. The withered leaf was a subject that spoke to the Japanese aesthetic preoccupation with the beauty of decay and impermanence — the dried leaf as beautiful in its own way as the fresh green leaf of spring. Kimura's contemporary woodblock treatment likely renders the withered leaf with graphic precision, the irregular, contracted form of the dried leaf offering a different visual character than the smooth, open form of a fresh leaf.
