Winter Waterfall

publisher: Bungei KurabuThis print belongs to a rare series of twelve shunga designs, each representing a month of the year and accompanied by a short romantic poem or text. Published around 1899 by Bungei Kurabu, the series bridges the aesthetic of late ukiyo-e and the emerging nihonga painting style of the Meiji era. Terasaki Kōgyō, a pupil of Kōno Bairei of the Shijō school, was among the leading figures of Meiji-period art and one of the pioneers of modern nihonga painting. His works combine traditional Japanese sensibility with subtle Western realism. Even in his seldom-seen erotic compositions such as this, Kōgyō displays refined attention to composition, color harmony, and psychological intimacy.