Our Torpedo Hitting a Russian Warship at the Great Naval Battle of Port Arthur 1904

Kobayashi Kiyochika made this print of a naval battle, and the first thing I notice is the division of space – the waves on the surface and the shadowy depths below. Look at the surface of the water, those wave crests have a cartoonish quality, like something from a comic. The flat planes of color and bold outlines make it feel both immediate and a bit distanced, a story being told, not necessarily a real event. And that torpedo! It's like a dark thought speeding through the depths, a silent, deadly intention cutting through the blue. Kiyochika was known as the last ukiyo-e master, and you can see how he's playing with tradition, but also pushing it somewhere new with his strong colors and dramatic compositions. It feels like a precursor to some of the manga art that came later, a fascinating blend of old and new.