A Scouting Party of the Japanese Army Observing the Movements of Russian Cossack Soldiers across the Daedong River 1904

Kobayashi Kiyochika made this print of a scouting party on the Daedong River with woodblocks, but it's the inky darkness that really grabs me. The muted palette is almost entirely desaturated, except for these little pops of intense color. It's like he’s painting with quietude, punctuated by alarm. Look how the artist uses blocks of flat color to create a sense of depth and space. There’s the way the moon glows in the background, just a simple circle of white, but it sets the mood for the whole scene. The red of the fire is so bold and flat; it really vibrates against the muted landscape. It’s this focal point that draws your eye and makes you wonder what's going on. The horses, each outlined in flat block colors, remind me of the work of Franz Marc. Kiyochika's work reminds us that art isn't just about what we see, but how we see it. It's about feeling, interpreting, and making sense of the world in our own unique way.