Snow at Ginkakuji Temple, Asano Takeji, woodblock print, sheet size 10 x 14 inches (26 x 36 cm); links is to Ukiyo-e Search, large file here.

Asano Takeji was a 20th century Japanese printmaker who worked in the manner of both the shin hanga (new prints) and sōsaku hanga (creative prints) schools of woodblock printmaking. The former is a collaborative effort between an artist, a carver, a printmaker and a publisher. In the latter, the artist does the entire process.

In the case of this beautiful evocation of a temple in the quiet of snow — one of the artist’s earliest prints — he is working in the shin hanga manner.

Happy Winter Solstice!