Koichi Sakamoto - 白い光景 (White Landscape) (No.1)

A fabulous print by Koichi Sakamoto: 白い光景 (White Landscape) (No.1). A full moon casts its glow over a snow-laden village, where steep gasshō-style roofs bear the heavy weight of winter. Bare trees and grasses push up through the drifted snow, while teal skies fade softly into the horizon. A quiet and atmospheric composition - likely inspired by villages like 白川郷 (Shirakawa-go) - capturing the stillness and quiet luminosity of Japan’s deep winter. 🌕❄️🏡

• Year & Edition: c. late 1970s/80s · Ed. 51/100 (signed, titled & editioned in pencil).
  
• Medium: Etching & Aquatint on Arches paper.
  
• Dimensions: Sheet H: 35.25 cm × W: 57.00 cm; Image H: 22.00 cm × W: 46.75 cm.
  
• Condition: Beautiful condition. Paper/image crisp & unblemished. 
  
• Notes: Marked “その1” (No.1) in pencil. From the later decades of the 20th century, Sakamoto became especially known for his winter scenes - snow-covered thatched roofs and bare trees rendered in soft detail, conveying a meditative stillness.

About the Artist

Koichi Sakamoto (b.1932, Utsunomiya) is a Japanese printmaker known for his fine etchings & mezzotints depicting rural homes, birds, and quiet seasonal landscapes. A longtime exhibitor with the Japan Print Association and Shunyōkai, his postwar works are held in major museum collections in Japan and abroad. His snowbound villages and delicate natural subjects evoke a deep sense of stillness & reflection. [ ← View All Works by Koichi Sakamoto]