Before a Thunderstorm

Wind-whipped grasses and a bird precariously aloft in the dark sky evoke the anxiety felt in anticipation of an imminent storm. This print shares an expressionist intensity and the experimental qualities of works by artists of the noncommercial so_saku hanga movement, who carried out all aspects of printmaking themselves. This and other works by Shinsui from his early period are clearly at odds with the general perception of shin hanga as neo-ukiyo-e expressions of the timeless Japanese sensitivity to nature and the seasons.