Japanese Art | Japanese Woodblock Prints

A B	Paul Jacoulet (1902-1960) Cactus, Mers du Sud Color woodblock print on thick cream wove paper with artist's watermark of his initials and name in kanji,, PJ Jyaku Rei. The title in the lower margin at right, CACTUS, MERS DU SUD, and block carver seal on lower left margin Kentaro to (Maeda Kentaro, active 1934-61).
	Alternate title: Cactus, South Seas
	A: An unsigned 'progression' impression with only a portion of the colors printed.
	47.5 by 36.2 cm
	B: Pencil signed at lower left in the area of dark teal, Paul Jacoulet, with artist's 'sparrow' seal below, and elaborate PJ seal on verso. The carver's seal on lower right margin accompanied by the printer's seal, Shunosuke suri (Shunosuke Fujii, active 1940-1950).
	48.2 by 36.4 cm.
	Jacoulet finally made the transition to printmaker after meeting the artist and block carver Kazuo Yamagishi (ca. 1893-1966), who had helped the Chase brothers (cat. no. 40) in 1927. In 1934 Jacoulet completed his first print with Yamagishi, and henceforward devoted his efforts to meticulous printmaking. He became his own publisher, and worked with the best carvers and printers of the period, almost always including their seals on the front of his prints. He had paper hand-made in Kyoto with his watermark, and used only natural pigments and expensive embellishments such as lacquer, gofun, and mica. He was known for lavish printings, and yet frugally, would only print impressions as they were ordered or that he had already sold to his subscribers. He also employed a complicated numbering system, with different edition sizes in English and Japanese, but in general, only a maximum 350 impressions of any design would have been made, and often, far fewer.
	References: Miles, The Prints of Paul Jacoulet, 1982, p. 107, illus. p. 62, cat. no. 79 Yokohama Museum of Art, Eyes Towards Asia: Ukiyo-e Artists from Abroad, 1996, p. 151, no. 209