Village in Harima 1951

This is Toshi Yoshida's "Village in Harima," and the way the light seems to pour into this print is what really grabs me. Look at how he’s layered the colors, especially those earthy browns and blues, in such a way that the whole scene feels sun-drenched. It's like he's painting with light itself! I’m always drawn to the textures in art, and here you can almost feel the roughness of the wooden walls against the smoothness of the paper. Those little figures scattered about, each one a daub of color, bring the whole scene to life. Notice the dry-brush effect, especially in the sky and the ground, which gives the print a kind of gritty realness. It puts me in mind of Edward Hopper, actually, that same knack for finding the quiet beauty in everyday scenes, but here, Yoshida is doing it with this incredible sense of light and color. Ultimately, art's about asking questions, not giving answers, and this print leaves me with plenty to think about.