<b>SELF-PORTRAIT</b> / Kihei Sasajima1941<b>SOLD</b></em>

Details

The artist holds a contemplative gaze as the viewer greets him in the world of his own domain. The design is constructed by Sasajima’s characteristic slashes of black. This effect is created by a block-carving technique where Sasajima carves rapid gouges of varying thickness and depth into the woodblock and then dabs a pigment-filled cloth directly onto the block in preparation for printing. This design is striking in its departure from Sasajima’s body of work and the technique is surprisingly successful for portraiture in that the contemplative inward gaze is an interesting counterbalance to Sasajima’s typical energetic landscapes.

Connoisseur's Note

This design happens to be Sasajima’s only self-portrait and no editions beyond the artist’s proof are known. This impression is an exceedingly rare look at how the artist elected to represent himself in his signature style most commonly associated with his landscapes.