Suzuki Kason Original Woodblock Print "Autumn Shower" Russo Japanese War 1904 LS#205

Suzuki Kason (鈴木華邨) "Autumn Shower" — 1904

A poignant and beautifully composed kuchi-e (口絵) frontispiece woodblock print by Suzuki Kason, published in the literary magazine Bungei Kurabu (文芸倶楽部, "Literary Club") by Hakubunkan, Tokyo, in 1904. The composition juxtaposes two emotionally charged scenes: at right, a bijin in a pale floral kimono with rose kanzashi sits absorbed in reading a letter, her expression quietly anxious; at upper left, an inset vignette rendered in somber monochrome shows Japanese soldiers in modern military uniform engaged in close combat, swords drawn amid broken telegraph poles and bursting shells. The contrast between the intimate domestic scene and the distant battlefield requires no explanation — this is a home-front image, a woman reading news from the front during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. The restrained palette, the inset composition device, and the psychological intensity are hallmarks of Kason's mature kuchi-e work.

• Title: "Autumn Shower"
• Artist: Suzuki Kason (鈴木華邨, 1860–1919)
• Publisher: Hakubunkan, Tokyo
• Publication: Bungei Kurabu (文芸倶楽部), Vol. 10, No. 13, 1904
• Format: Kuchi-e (frontispiece woodblock print) — approximately 8 3/4" × 12 1/4" (22 × 31 cm)

Good; colors well-preserved with characteristic pale ground. Some toning and minor foxing spots visible; light soiling to margins. No tears noted.

A museum-collected image held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Honolulu Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and the Saint Louis Art Museum — an exceptional example of Meiji kuchi-e at the intersection of bijin-ga and Russo-Japanese War sentiment.