Details

In The Foothills of the Mountains, Atagoyama, Takahashi Hiroaki—widely known by his art name Shotei—offers a masterwork of scale, light, and atmospheric drama. Rendered in 1932 and published by Fusui Gabo, this exceptional landscape belongs to a rare pair of compositions derived from the same primary matrix but modified through additional blocks to create seasonal and tonal variations. The present impression—distinguished by its crisp light, golden autumn foliage, and clear skies—is the autumn version, suffused with a sense of serene clarity and latent movement.

The view unfolds in a dramatic vertical composition, with a thunderous river coursing through a chasm of dark stone toward the foot of Mount Fuji, which rises like a sacred sentinel in the distance. A brilliant blue sky opens above the scene, contrasting the warm ochres of deciduous trees that cling to the cliff edges. The monumental rocks to the left bear textures deeply carved and printed in layers, enhancing a sense of permanence and weight. Yet the moment itself is fleeting: the water froths with life, and the lone tree arching into the sky hints at seasonal change. Hiroaki’s painterly treatment of natural forms, influenced by nihonga aesthetics, brings depth and grace to this compelling terrain.

Connoisseur's Note

This print exemplifies Hiroaki’s mature landscape style—an artful fusion of Western-style realism with the traditional poetic sensibility of ukiyo-e. Unlike the more lyrical rain-filled version of this composition, the autumn variant shown here achieves a visual balance between monumentality and stillness. Subtle color gradations and precise carving deliver an image that feels both observed and dreamlike, the hand of the artist evident in every rippling wave and stone contour. The bokashi shading of the sky and mist-draped forested slope behind Fuji evokes yugen—the mysterious, the suggestive—inviting the viewer into a landscape both real and idealized.

Prints of this size and complexity were rare achievements in Hiroaki’s oeuvre and were likely produced in small numbers. The use of additional woodblocks to vary the texture and mood between impressions reveals a level of experimentation and mastery that places Hiroaki’s work alongside the finest landscape artists of the Shin-Hanga movement. This print is not only a technical triumph but a deeply meditative scene—one in which the elemental forces of rock, river, and mountain align with the quiet lyricism of autumn light.