Koetsu utaibon hyakuban
Koetsu utaibon hyakuban is a Japanese woodblock-printed book of poems and illustrations dating from around 1600, held by the Smithsonian Libraries. The picture shows pale blossoming plum branches rendered in white against a warm grey-beige ground, with the book's gutter running down the centre. A designer could borrow its sparse negative-space botanical drawing, where delicate sprigs and blossoms emerge from an empty field.
