Reading Book 1930

Narita Morikane's woodblock print, "Reading Book," now at the Minneapolis Institute of Art, feels like a quiet conversation between colors and forms. Just imagine the artist, Morikane, carefully carving each line into the wood, layering the blues of her kimono with the greens and grays of the striped fabric below. The scene is so intimate, isn't it? The way her head is bowed, how the light catches the curve of her neck, the way she is consumed in her reading. What's she thinking as she’s lost in its pages? It makes you think about painting as a form of portraiture, but also about other artists, like Utamaro, who sought to capture the fleeting beauty of everyday life. Each print invites us into a world of contemplation and beauty. It's a reminder that art is not just about what we see, but how we feel.