Shore of the Black Sea (Kokkai no kishi), 1961

Color woodblock print

12 9/16 x 18 1/2 inches (31.9 x 47 cm)

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of the
Felix and Helen Juda Foundation, 1962

1962-122-1

Ono Tadashige is well known for his depictions of Japanese life highlighting the struggles of the working class. Yet Ono also produced many images of foreign famous places, including scenes from Paris, Amsterdam, Pompeii, and Moscow, which he would have seen in his travels abroad in 1961. This scene of the shore of the Black Sea evokes his experience of the site. Ono is often overlooked in histories of the Sōsaku hanga movement, in spite of having had a successful and prolific career, perhaps due to his unusual technique.

Travis Mager