Details

One of the most sublime images from Obata’s storied 1930 “World Landscape Series – America,” Silence, Last Twilight on an Unknown Lake, Johnson Peak captures the moment when the majesty of the Sierra Nevada dissolves into the velvet hush of evening. Rendered in a palette of deep lapis, smoky lilac, and ochre gold, Obata’s depiction of Johnson Peak casts a towering silhouette over the lake, where reflections become reverent whispers of rock and light. The landscape appears not so much observed as felt—charged with a mystical presence, like a Noh stage set for a silent epiphany.

Obata, who emigrated from Japan in 1903 and went on to become a foundational figure in West Coast art and pedagogy, fused traditional nihonga and ukiyo-e technique with the vastness and scale of American wilderness. His time in Yosemite and the High Sierra in 1927—armed with brush and paper—was life-defining. The resulting watercolors would form the basis for this woodblock series, cut and printed in Japan by master artisans. In this print, Obata’s use of negative space as both silence and spirit invites a meditative reading: landscape as invocation.

Connoisseur's Note

This woodblock was produced in Japan in 1930 by the Takamizawa Print Workshop, a respected publisher known for both its fidelity to Edo-period technique and collaboration with contemporary artists. Chiura Obata personally oversaw the block carving and printing of this edition, working closely with Japanese craftsmen to ensure his original watercolors were translated with nuance and integrity. The resulting prints display a rare marriage of East and West—not only in imagery but in process.

Impressions of this print exhibit outstanding depth, particularly in the layered gradations of blue and black that define the silhouette of Johnson Peak. This example is an especially fine impression, with rich color retention and exceptional clarity in the swirling lines that define the lake and terrain. Obata’s transcendental vision, both lyrical and precise, is here rendered in full force.