Life
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “Life” now? Minneapolis Institute of Art, G315, Minneapolis. Yes, on view now. Checked September 29, 2026.
Minneapolis, United States
Closed· opens at 11:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
In this unfinished etching, Nakahashi cast a delicate flowering vine as a visual metaphor for life. Minutely etched words appear along the length of the vine and elsewhere, revealing a range of human attributes, both virtuous and otherwise. From top to bottom, the text reads, in part: pride, reflection, tyranny, carelessness, compromise, confusion, collapse, regret, vanity, confidence, love, hope, disappointment, desire. In the bottom margin of the plate, Nakahashi tested his etching needle
and practiced writing some of the words that appear within the composition. Because the etching technique reverses all imagery during printing, he would need to inscribe the words backward. The bottom plate margin would normally have been trimmed before printing.
Minneapolis Institute of Art
Details
- Accession number
- 2019.146.17
In the catalog
Sources
- Minneapolis Institute of Art
- Image: Minneapolis Institute of Art — © Center for Creative Photography, Arizona Board of Regents
![Untitled [Woman eating], Kenji Nakahashi, 20th century](https://img.artsmia.org/web_objects_cache/137000/700/40/137742/mia_7022398_800.jpg)
![Untitled [Abstract figure], Kenji Nakahashi, 20th century](https://img.artsmia.org/web_objects_cache/137000/700/20/137728/mia_7022397_800.jpg)
![Untitled [Animated balloon], Kenji Nakahashi, 20th century](https://img.artsmia.org/web_objects_cache/137000/700/50/137750/mia_7022380_800.jpg)
![Untitled [Sketches for constructing a form], Kenji Nakahashi, 20th century](https://img.artsmia.org/web_objects_cache/137000/800/80/137887/mia_7022427_800.jpg)
