Palace interior and beach, from an untitled hexaptych depicting a pair of folding screens c. 1825

Ryūryūkyo Shinsai created this woodblock print titled 'Palace interior and beach, from an untitled hexaptych depicting a pair of folding screens' in Japan. The print presents a diptych, with the left panel depicting a serene coastal landscape and the right showing an interior scene of figures in a palace. The landscape’s open composition, featuring a beach with windswept trees and cranes in flight, is a semiotic contrast to the geometric structure of the palace interior. The palace’s structured space, with its clear architectural lines and arranged figures, conveys a sense of order. Shinsai masterfully plays with asymmetry. One side has natural scenery, with a foreground that directs the viewer's eye towards the horizon, and the other side shows an enclosed human setting. The formal arrangement here encourages us to consider the interplay between nature and culture, freedom and structure. The work is an invitation to contemplate how constructed spaces shape our perception of the natural world.