Artist: Tadashi Nakayama (中山 正) Title: Haiiro no Uma (灰色の馬) – Gray Colored Horse Technique: Original color woodblock print (Sōsaku-hanga) – 4 blocks, 5 colors, 4 printing stages Date: 1961 Publisher: Self-published by the artist Edition: 65/80 Format: 53.5 × 43.5 cm (20.5 × 16.5 inches) Signature: Hand-signed and dated "1961 T. Nakayama" in pencil (lower left); edition number lower right; red artist seal (中山) verso 1. Impression & Colors: Strong impression with rich, deeply saturated colors. The burgundy ground retains its full intensity, and the grey mottled patterning of the horse figure shows excellent clarity with crisp registration throughout. The print has a stunning texture like surface. 2. Paper: Traditional Japanese hōsho paper in very good condition for a 64-year-old print. Minor age toning to margins, consistent with the work's age. The verso shows characteristic ink show-through from the printing process—a hallmark of hand-printed woodblocks using traditional baren pressure. 3. Gray Colored Horse – A Rare Early Masterwork: This striking composition presents a single horse rendered in Nakayama's distinctive mottled grey technique against a sumptuous burgundy ground. The figure stands with quiet monumentality, its body a constellation of grey, white, and black patterns that suggest both dappled hide and something more elemental—stone, perhaps, or weathered bronze. Geometric accents in vivid red and ochre adorn the mane and body, while circular motifs in varying sizes float throughout the background, creating a sense of cosmic rhythm and eternal motion. Created in 1961, this print belongs to Nakayama's first distinct stylistic period (1956–1964), marked by bold Abstract Expressionist influences and rich, earthy palettes. The relatively straightforward technique—4 blocks, 5 colors, 4 printing stages—stands in sharp contrast to the extraordinarily complex 23-block, 50-stage processes that would define his later career. Yet the compositional sophistication and masterful color harmonies already reveal the hand of an artist approaching full maturity. 4. Rarity & Market: Early Nakayama horse prints from 1958–1961 are increasingly scarce on the market. After 1981, the artist produced only one or two editions annually due to the extraordinary complexity of his mature technique, making his entire body of work relatively limited. This pre-European-journey print offers an opportunity to acquire a foundational work from the artist's first major period. The same print is currently listed on scriptum.com for $1,600. 5. Tadashi Nakayama: Japan's Master of the Modernist Horse: Tadashi Nakayama (1927–2014) stands among the most celebrated Japanese printmakers of the postwar era. Born in Niigata, he studied oil painting at Tama Art College before turning to mokuhanga woodblock printing in 1951. As a leading figure in the Sōsaku-hanga (creative prints) movement, Nakayama personally designed, carved, and printed every one of his works—a practice he maintained throughout his six-decade career. His prints are held in prestigious collections worldwide, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Library of Congress, and the Fogg Art Museum at Harvard University. The year following this print's creation, Nakayama embarked on a transformative journey through Turkey, Greece, India, and Europe. His encounter with Paolo Uccello's Renaissance horse paintings at the Louvre, Byzantine frescoes, and Persian miniatures would fundamentally reshape his artistic vision. This 1961 work therefore represents the culmination of his early period—confident, bold, and rooted in postwar abstraction—while already anticipating the ornamental sophistication to come. Horse imagery remained central to his oeuvre until his death, making these early equine subjects particularly sought after by collectors as they document the genesis of his signature theme.