$600
White Heron in the Rain
GAKUSUI, Ide
Woodblock print (color woodcut), with embossing throughout the feathers, on Japan paper, circa 1950. First edition, published by Watanabe. With the...
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Japanese nihonga-trained artist Ide Gakusui (1899–1978) worked in post-war Japan to produce a small but striking series of kachō-e (bird-and-flower prints) for Watanabe Shōsaburō from 1949 to the mid-1950s. His best-known woodblocks—such as Two Herons in Snow, Heron in Rain, and Two Cranes are composed in a graceful, understated style, with natural subjects distilled into elegant line and form.
Gakusui’s prints reflect a deep mastery of shin‑hanga principles: tonal subtlety, compositional restraint, and a serene presence. Owing to their refined beauty and rarity, these prints continue to attract collectors of Japanese modern printmaking.