Woodblock Print by Shodo Kawarazaki: Chrysanthemum

Two white chrysanthemums, one tidy, one coming loose at every petal.

This woodblock print, Chrysanthemum, is by Shodo Kawarazaki (1889-1973), from Japan, dated 1954, in ink on paper. The chrysanthemum has long been an emblem of autumn and long life in Japan, and it is also the flower of the imperial seal. The upper bloom is a dense globe of incurved white petals touched with pale green. The lower one spreads in long, spiky petals with yellow at the center. Lobed leaves in two greens climb the stems, and a red seal sits at lower left. It is 10.75 inches wide and 15.75 high.

Autumn, in its Sunday best.