Wind and Rain

         Today we’re having ferocious lashings of wind and rain where I live, and I thought I’d use it as an excuse to share a selection of block prints attempting to capture some of that fierce storm energy and movement.

        I start with a piece by Utagawa Hiroshige with a sky pretty much matching the color outside my window right now.  Our rain’s coming down at a steep slant, and I’m certainly glad I’m not out in it.  I’m unconvinced that the water in this scene should be so blue with such a dark sky overhead.  On the other hand, I’m enchanted by the strips of grass that grow across the bridge.

        Next up I’ve got a piece from Olaus Magnus, whom I’ve covered on multiple previous occasions.  He described lots of wind effects in his encyclopaedic book, but this one is especially fitting for today’s storm, because from my window I can see that a tree across the street has been broken and blown down!  Magnus’s illustrations (executed by anonymous artists and craftsmen) have a rough vigor that doesn’t always rise to artistic greatness, but certainly does a good job here of showing the fury of the wind.

        For my third piece I have another with a person out in the storm.  He’s giving such an illustration of despair that I suspect the storm is reflecting his misery at least as much as causing it.  The tree bent so far over, as well as the man’s hair, indicates the wind, and the course of the stream suggests a flash of lightning.  (We have no lightning in our storm today.)

        The final piece is entitled “Wind and Snow,” but I think it reads as much like rain as snow.  Where I am it’s strangely warm and we are definitely not getting the blizzard we’d have if the temperature were more suitable for December, but I still think this piece is evocative of the lashing wind and rain.  The bright colors are an interesting choice, and I’m somewhat surprised to find that I really like them in this context.  Once again, 

though, they make it look more autumnal than wintry to me.

        As long as no more trees get broken and we don’t lose our power, I’m enjoying this magnificent storm.  But perhaps in the next week we’ll shift over to a gentle snow more suitable for Christmas!

[Pictures: Ejiri: Koyoshida Bridge and Famous Sushi Shop, color wood block print by Utagawa Hiroshige I, c. 1850-1 (Image from MFA Boston);

On the Fury of Cyclones and Hurricanes, woodcut from Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus by Olaus Magnus, 1555 (Image from Wikimedia Commons);

Untitled (Man in Storm), woodcut by Isaac Friedlander, c. 1934 (Image from artnet);

Wind and Snow, color woodcut by James Dexter Havens, 1938 (Image from California Historical Design).]