Collection

Lyric: The Clear Hours

ONCHI, Koshiro

1915

Information

Title
Lyric: The Clear Hours
Artist
ONCHI, Koshiro View artist Information
Year
1915
Collection
Purchased
Medium
color woodcut
Size(cm)
13.5×10.0
Collection ID no.
P00712-002

Commentary

This work, believed to date from January 1915, is said to be the first example of abstract art in Japan. The image is composed of red arcs of varying sizes move from the edges toward the center, changing gradually. In later years, Onchi published a poem with the same title as this print.

Like happiness with no cause
Like anticipation of something pleasant
Like an unrecognizable song heard in the distance
A brilliant light swells
A brilliant body floats up
into the air, rising like vapor.

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