Sea, Evening Calm
Reika Iwami, Japanese, 1927 - 2020
1964
Color lithograph on paper
Impression: 29 1/2 × 21 5/8 in. (74.9 × 54.9 cm)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Museum Purchase
PR.964.201
Geography
Place Made: Japan, East Asia, Asia
Period
20th century
Object Name
Research Area
Not on view
Inscriptions
Signed and dated, in graphite, lower right: Reika Iwami '64; inscribed, lower center: Sea, Evening Calm
Label
Amidst the deep, dark background, an oval-shaped object floats at the top of the image. It may be a fish leisurely swimming in the blue sea, revealing its silver scales and waving its long red tail. It may also be the horizon with white sky and blue ocean, a sun or moon floating above the water.
There is no right way to interpret this print, as Iwami seeks only to inspire the viewer’s imagination about nature through her work. This pioneering female printmaker often adopted abstract motifs to represent things like the movement of water while making the space for the viewer to participate in the image.
From the 2024 exhibition Attitude of Coexistence: Non-Humans in East Asian Art, curated by Haely Chang, Jane and Raphael Bernstein Associate Curator of East Asian Art
Course History
Art History 63.02, Why Are Museums...?, Mary Coffey, Spring 2026
Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages 51.11, Religion 2.02, Religions of Vietnam, Sara Swenson, Winter 2025
Geography 3.01, Living with Nature, Coleen Fox, Winter 2025
Philosophy 50.18, Animal Minds, Tina Rosenqvist, Winter 2025
Religion 40.08, Fear & Loathing in Religion, MK Long, Winter 2025
Art History 63.02, Why Are Museums…?, Mary Coffey, Spring 2025
Italian 1.01, Introductory Italian I, Floriana Ciniglia, Spring 2025
Italian 2.01, Introductory Italian II, Marco D'Angelo, Spring 2025
Religion 1.13, Sacred Movement, Robert Weiner, Spring 2025
Asian Societies, Cultures, and Languages 70.24, Asian American Art and Architecture, Sujin Eom, Spring 2025
College Course 26.01, What’s in Your Toolbox?, Casey Aldrich and Mokhtar Bouba, Fall 2025
Comparative Literature 55.03, Asian Societies, Culture, and Language 60.10, Eco-Fiction: Stories of Ghosts and Other Beings from Premodern China, Yiren Zheng, Fall 2025
Special Tour: Attitude of Coexistence and Beyond the Bouquet, Winter 2025
Exhibition Tour: Attitudes of Coexistence and Beyond the Bouquet, Winter 2025
Exhibition History
Attitude of Coexistence: Non-humans in East Asian Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, February 26-June 29, 2025.
Provenance
International Graphic Arts Society, Inc., New York; sold to present collection, 1964.
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