Obata: Colorado Street Bridge– Full Moon, Pasadena, California

2025-03-01T17:07:33-08:00

Type: Print
Price: 22000.00

Artist: Chiura Obata (1885-1975)
Title: Full Moon, Pasadena California Date: 1930

Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition.

The graceful arch of the Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena echoes the curve of the glowing full moon. Obata has chosen an unusual angle, placing the moon beneath the bridge itself, probably to highlight the grace of the curving span. This must have been the view as he painted it one evening from the park beneath the bridge. The sky glows with layers of subtle colors, and the light of a single street lamp also provides warmth at upper right. The trees have lost their colors at this time of night and fade into shadow, framing three sides of the image. The Colorado Street Bridge is a historic Beaux Arts design built in 1912 that spans the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, and its unique beauty has been featured in many feature films, from Charlie Chaplin’s “The Kid” (1929) to 2016’s “La La Land”. This is the only view of the Los Angeles area in this series of 35 prints of California scenes. This work very rarely appears on the market, especially in this condition. Very scarce.

To this dealer, this series represents the finest woodblock printing of the 20th century, and it would be impossible to attempt today, as no human alive could carve and print this masterpiece of woodblock printing. They’ve captured Obata’s dry brushstrokes, his faint brushstrokes as well as the wet brushstrokes that pool into each other.

From the World Landscape series, the groundbreaking effort that Obata spent all his savings on creating with the highest possible standards. The project employed more than 32 carvers and 40 printers for eighteen months. In order to give the effect of a watercolor, scores of blocks were used for each design, and specially prepared paper was made. According to the Takimizawa booklet on this series, this work required 130 impressions to create.

Publisher: Takamizawa Size: 33.2 x 45 cm
Literature: See Whitney Museum of American Art, FAMSF collections and the Huntington Museum and Art Gallery. Signature: Unsigned, as is common

Price: $22,000