Woodblock Print by Shodo Kawarazaki: Yellow Flower

Five-petaled yellow blooms scattered up long green canes, as if the plant could not decide where to stop.

This woodblock print, Yellow Flower, is by Shodo Kawarazaki (1889-1973), from Japan, dated 1954, in ink on paper. Japanese flower prints of this period drew on a long tradition of close botanical study, with each color laid down from a separately carved block. Slender green stems cross the sheet on the diagonal, carrying serrated leaves, bright yellow blossoms and buds still closed tight. Two characters at upper left name the plant, and a red seal sits at lower left. It is 10.75 inches wide and 15.75 high.

Cheerful, without overdoing it.