Flight over Mountains

As a teenager, Munakata traveled in his native Aomori province to sketch the countryside in emulation of his artistic idol, the Dutch-born Post-Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh (1853–1890). Later, perhaps recalling this experience, Munakata set this series of bird prints in that northern district of Japan's Honshu Island. In Flight Over Mountains, the rock formation over which a lone cormorant soar brings to mind the patterns of the region's stylized flag, itself based on an aerial view of the province's rocky headlands and bay.