Augustus 1905 Possibly 1905 - 1910

Asai Chû made "Augustus 1905", around the turn of the century using woodblock print. Isn’t it interesting how the flat, almost graphic style creates such a sense of depth? I love the way the water ripples out from the frogs; the surface is alive. You can see the grain of the wood in the water, a reminder of the process. Look at the frog at the top, just poking its head above the water. The artist's carved little jagged edges there, which give this sense of movement, of the frog emerging, pushing against the surface. It’s a brilliant detail. It makes me think of artists like Félix Vallotton, who were also playing with flatness and pattern in their prints around the same time. It's a reminder that art is always in conversation, across cultures and time periods.