Rainy Night at Shinobazu Pond
不忍池の雨夜
- Date:
- 1938
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Typical Price
Shinobazu Pond under nighttime rain combines three premium elements in the Kasamatsu market: a Tokyo landmark, nocturnal atmosphere, and rain. Watanabe lifetime editions sell for $1,500-$3,500. The layered atmospheric effects -- darkness, mist rising from the pond, slanting rain -- demanded exceptional printing skill, and quality varies significantly between impressions.
Description
Rainy Night at Shinobazu Pond captures the atmospheric beauty of Shinobazu Pond in Tokyo's Ueno district during a nighttime rainstorm. Created in 1938, this print showcases Kasamatsu's exceptional ability to render nocturnal atmospheres and the interplay of water, light, and rain that characterizes his most celebrated works.
Shinobazu Pond, located within Ueno Park, has been a famous scenic spot since the Edo period, known for its lotus flowers in summer and its proximity to temples, museums, and the Ueno zoo. Kasamatsu chose to depict the pond at night during rainfall, transforming this well-known daytime destination into a mysterious and evocative landscape. The surface of the pond reflects scattered lights from the surrounding area, their glow fragmented and diffused by the falling rain and rippling water.
The technical execution of this print is remarkable. Fine lines of rain streak diagonally across the composition, printed with the precision that characterizes the best shin-hanga production. The water surface required multiple printing impressions to achieve the complex layering of reflections, darkness, and the distortion caused by raindrops striking the pond. Bokashi shading in the sky creates a sense of low-hanging clouds and atmospheric moisture, while strategic touches of warm color suggest artificial light sources beyond the frame.
This work belongs to a remarkable group of nocturnal rain scenes that Kasamatsu produced in 1938, the same year as his celebrated Night Rain at Maekawa. Together, these prints demonstrate his mastery of a subject that has deep roots in Japanese artistic tradition. Where Hiroshige and Hasui rendered rain with varying degrees of stylization, Kasamatsu achieved a heightened naturalism that conveys both the visual and emotional experience of being outdoors in rain at night. The Shinobazu Pond composition holds particular appeal for its combination of urban setting and natural atmosphere, placing the viewer at the boundary between Tokyo's built environment and its treasured green spaces.
