Woodblock Print by Susumu Yamaguchi: Afternoon Nap- Hanga Vol. 9, Framed

Two apples on the floor, a painting on the wall, and nobody awake to notice.

Afternoon Nap, from Hanga Vol. 9, is a framed woodblock print by Susumu Yamaguchi (1897-1983), from Japan, dated 1926, in ink on paper. Hanga simply means print, and in 1920s Japan the word was tied to a movement of artists who valued prints as personal, handmade art. A heavy nude sleeps on her side under a bright window, curtain drawn back, canvases nearby. Black ink builds the room in close, scratchy tones. The image itself is small, 8.1 inches wide, in a frame 24 inches wide.

The apples, one suspects, can wait.