Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Views of Osaka: Kyomachi Canal
(Osaka fukei: Kyomachi horikawa)

lithograph, self-printed and self-published by the artist; with title cartouche on the left-hand side, Osaka fukei: Kyomachi horikawa, signed and dated on the bottom right margin, K. Oda. 1919

13 1/4 by 19 1/8 in., 33.7 by 48.7 cm

Born in Tokyo in 1882 into family which had enjoyed koke ('high family') status under the shogunate, at the age of twelve he moved with his family to Osaka in 1894 where his elder brother Oda Tou (1873-1933) had established himself as a painter and worked as a lithographic technician. Four years later, Oda began studying drawing and lithography with Tou, and the following year he began working at a lithographic printing company in Hiroshima. In 1900 he went back to Tokyo for a period to begin further training with the lithographic artist Kaneko Masajiro (fl. ca. 1884-1900s). It must have been during that period that Oda was influenced by (and possibly met) the skilled lithographer and etching artist, Austrian ex-pat Emil Orlik (1870-1932) who was living in Japan from March 1900 until 1901. Oda returned to Tokyo again in 1903 to study Western-style painting with Kawamura Kiyoo (1899-1934) while also working at the Koshiba lithography studio. He began exhibiting watercolors in various exhibitions including in the first Bunten (government-sponsored exhibition) at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1907. An ukiyo-e enthusiast, Oda owned a collection of ehon (woodblock printed illustrated books) by the great 19th century painter and print designer, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), and published books on Edo period prints. Although he embraced the 'artist as creator' ethos of the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement throughout his career, primarily self-printing and self-publishing his own lithographs, Oda also produced six shin-hanga (new print) style woodblock prints with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) and utilized the Nihon Hanga-sha (Japan Print Company) to market some of his self-carved woodblock prints.

While a very prolific designer, Oda was judicious in his print production; his self-published prints were issued in small editions, usually limited to 20 or sometimes 50 impressions. Likewise, he was remarkably prolific in his involvement in various artist's organizations and collaborative publications. He contributed several lithographed designs to Hosun ca. 1908-11, a short-lived but influential art magazine co-founded by Ishii Hakutei (1882-1958); and was a founding member (and only lithographer) of Nihon Sosaku-Hanga Kyokai (Creative Print Society) in 1918; Yofu Hangakai (Western Style Print Society) in 1930; and Nihon Hanga Kyokai (Japan Print Association) in 1931. Oda published two books on ukiyo-e: Eighteen Studies of Ukiyo-e (Ukiyo-e juhachi ko) in 1926, and Ukiyo-e and the Art of Illustration (Ukiyo-e to sashi-e geijutsu) in 1931. He was the only lithographer included in the shin-hanga exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art in 1930 (exhibiting the six woodblock prints produced by Watanabe). And in 1953 he established the Oda Lithography Studio (Oda Sekihanjutsu Kenkyujo).

This print is from his second major lithograph series, Osaka fukei hangashu (Collection of Prints of Scenes in Osaka, or Views of Osaka), published in 1919 which was comprised of twenty designs. The scene is the canal on the Kyomachi River, illustrating warehouses on the left and the veranda of houses and restaurants on the right.

References:
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Catalogue of Collections: Prints, 1993, p. 56, no. 462
Changing Scenery (Oda Kazuma Ten: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- utsuriyuku Fuukei), Machida Shiritsu Kokusai Hanga Bijutsukan, 2000, p. 70, no. 63
Chiaki Ajioka, Waves of Renewal: Modern Japanese Prints, 1900 to 1960, 2016, p. 125 (artist's biography)

(inv. no. 10-5511)

$2,200

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Views of Osaka: Harbour (Moonlit Night)
(Osaka fukei: Chikko- tsukiyo)

lithograph, self-printed and self-published by the artist; with series title and print title within the composition on the bottom right corner, Osaka fukei Chikko, signed and dated in ink on the bottom margin, K. Oda. 1919

13 1/4 by 19 1/8 in., 33.5 by 48.5 cm

Born in Tokyo, Oda Kazuma studied Western-style painting with Kawamura Kiyoo (1899-1934) and lithography with Kaneko Masajiro (fl. ca. 1884-1900s). Oda worked primarily as a lithographer, but he was also an ukiyo-e enthusiast, publishing on the subject and collecting ehon (illustrated books) by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). Although he produced six shin-hanga style woodblock prints with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) and produced self-carved woodblock prints, the vast majority of his oeuvre was in the medium of lithography. Oda was prolific with his designs, his self-published prints were produced in small editions.

This print is from his second major landscape series, Osaka fukei hangashu (Collection of Prints of Scenes in Osaka, or, Views of Osaka), self-published in 1919 and comprised of twenty designs.

References:
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Catalogue of Collections: Prints, 1993, p. 56, no. 464
Oda Kazuma Exhibition: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- Changing Scenery (Oda Kazuma Ten: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- utsuriyuku Fuukei), Machida Shiritsu Kokusai Hanga Bijutsukan, 2000, p. 71, no. 65

(inv. no. 10-5078)

$3,500

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Catching Whitebait at Nakaumi
(Izumo nakaumi shirauo tori)

signed Kazuma hitsu, followed by artist's circular seal Oda, and titled in the lower right cartouche, Izumo nakaumi shirauo tori, with publisher's seal at lower left corner Watanabe (Watanabe Shozaburo), 1923

oban yoko-e 11 1/2 by 15 3/8 in., 29.3 by 39.2 cm

Many artists of the first half of the 20th century drifted back and forth between the two poles of the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement, which emphasized the artist as the creator, and the shin-hanga (new print) movement, which sought to produce modern works through the traditional hanmoto (publisher) system, utilizing professional carvers and printers. Oda Kazuma was one of the rare artists who was able to produce notable works by both means; that is, with a publisher or independently.

Born in Tokyo, Oda Kazuma studied Western-style painting with Kawamura Kiyoo (1899-1934) and lithography first with his brother Oda Tou (1873-1933) and later with the master Kaneko Masajiro (fl. ca. 1884-1900s). Although the vast majority of his oeuvre was in the medium of lithography, Oda was also an ukiyo-e collector and scholar, publishing reference books on the subject. As one of the most prominent sosaku-hanga artists, Oda embraced the 'artist as creator' ethos, self-printing and self-publishing his own lithographs. He also experimented with color woodblock printing, carving and printing his own blocks, or sometimes deferring the labor of printing to the oversight of a publisher such as Nihon Hanga-sha who specialized in marketing sosaku-hanga works.

Oda also collaborated with the prominent shin-hanga publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), who produced six designs by Oda in the early-mid 1920s. All six works, including this design, were represented in the groundbreaking 1930 exhibition of modern Japanese prints at the Toledo Museum of Art.

References:
Dorothy Blair, Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930 (1997 reprint), no. 168
Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-Century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, p. 136, no. 143 (and artist's biography)
Kendall H. Brown & Hollis Goodall-Cristante, Shin-Hanga: New Prints in Modern Japan, 1996, p. 29, fig. 19
Nihon no hanga III 1921-1930, Toshi to onna to hikari to kage to (Japanese Prints III, 1921-1930: Cities and Women, Light and Shadows), Chiba City Museum of Art, 2001, p. 41, no. 22
Amanda T. Zehnder, Modern Japanese Prints: The Twentieth Century, Carnegie Museum of Art, 2009, p. 136
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 208, cat. no. 175
Chris Uhlenback, Jim Dwinger, Philo Ouweleen, Shin Hanga: The New Prints of Japan 1900-1960, 2022, p. 172, cat. 153
Art Institute of Chicago, Bruce Goff Archive, gift of Shin'enkan, inc., reference no. 1990.607.223
Carnegie Museum of Art, item no. DP-510451-22
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Felix Juda Collection, no. M.73.37.466

(inv. no. 10-4858)

SOLD

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

The Great Bridge in Matsue
(Matsue Ohashi)

figures plod through heavy snow on a bridge; signed at lower left, Kazuma hitsu, followed by artist's circular seal Oda, dated at lower right margin, Taisho jusannen saku (work of Taisho 13 [1924]), followed by title carchouche, Matsue Ohashi, with publisher's circular seal Watanabe within the composition, 1924

dai oban yoko-e 10 1/4 by 15 3/8 in., 26 by 39 cm

Throughout his artistic career, Oda worked primarily as a lithographer, but he was also an ukiyo-e enthusiast publishing two books on the subject and owned a collection of Hokusai ehon. He began working as a designer with the Koshiba lithography studio in Tokyo in 1903 and was one of the foremost artists to popularize lithography in Japan. Oda explored woodblock printmaking as well, experimenting with carving and printing his own work in the spirit of the sosaku hanga (creative print movement), as well as publishing six woodblock prints through the auspices of the leading shin hanga publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962).

This design is from a group of works depicting scenes from the San'in region in the southwest of the main island of Honshu. Facing the Sea of Japan, the mountainous region is known for heavy snowfalls in the winter.

References:
Dorothy Blair, Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930 (1997 reprint), no. 167
Lawrence Smith, The Japanese Print Since 1900, 1983, color photo p. 74, p. 92, no. 70 Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-Century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, p. 135, no. 141
Nihon no hanga III 1921-1930, Toshi to onna to hikari to kage to (Japanese Prints III, 1921-1930: Cities and Women, Light and Shadows), Chiba City Museum of Art, 2001, p. 41, no. 22
Amy Reigle Newland, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 71, no. 50
Ukiyo-e Modern, Machida City Museum of Graphic Arts, 2005, p. 53, no. 131
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 207, cat. no. 174
Chris Uhlenbeck, Amy Reigle Newland and Maureen de Vries, Waves of Renewal: Modern Japanese Prints, 1900-1960, Selection from the Nihon no hanga Collection, 2016, p. 127, no. 39
Chris Uhlenback, Shin Hanga: The New Prints of Japan 1900-1960, 2022, p. 171, cat. 152
Art Institute of Chicago, Clarence Buckingham Collection, reference no. 1929.392
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Felix Juda Collection, no. M.73.37.467

(inv. no. 10-5731)

SOLD

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Scenes of San-in: View of Mihonoseki at Izumo
(San-in fukei: Izumo mihonoseki no kei)

signed Kazuma hitsu, followed by artist's circular seal Oda, and titled in the lower left margin, Izumo mihonoseki no kei, published by Watanabe Shozaburo, ca. 1925

oban tate-e 15 3/8 by 10 1/2 in., 38.9 by 26.7 cm

Many artists of the first half of the 20th century drifted back and forth between the two poles of sosaku-hanga (creative prints) and shin-hanga (new prints). Oda Kazuma was an artist who was able to produce notable works by both means; that is, with a publisher or independently. Born in Shiba, Tokyo, he studied Western-style painting with Kawamura Kiyoo (1899-1934) and lithography with Kaneko Masajiro. While Oda worked primarily as a lithographer, he was also an ukiyo-e enthusiast, publishing two books on the subject. He was a contributor to Hosun ca. 1909-11, an art magazine co-founded by Ishii Hakutei (1882-1958); a founding member (and only lithographer) of Nihon Sosaku-Hanga Kyokai (Creative Print Society) in 1918; Yofu Hangakai (Western Style Print Society) in 1930; and Nihon Hanga Kyokai (Japan Print Association) in 1931. And yet, with all his sosaku-hanga associations, in the 1920s he designed six shin-hanga type woodblock prints published by Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962).

This print is one of the designs that Watanabe included in the 1930 groundbreaking exhibition of shin-hanga at the Toledo Museum of Art.

References:
Dorothy Blair, Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930 (1997 reprint), no. 172
Lawrence Smith, The Japanese Print Since 1900, 1983, photo p. 89, p. 92, no. 71
Amanda T. Zehnder, Modern Japanese Prints: The Twentieth Century, Carnegie Museum of Art, 2009, p. 136
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 211, cat. no. 179
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, accession no. P00218-007

(inv. no. 10-5463)

$3,500

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Arifuku Hot Spring, Iwami
(Iwami Arifuku onsen)

signed at the upper right, Kazuma hitsu, with artist's seal Oda, dated in margin at lower left, Taisho juyo-nen (Taisho 14 [1925]), followed by the title, Iwami Arifuku onsen, with publisher's seal, Hanken shoyu Watanabe Shozaburo (Copyright ownership Watanabe Shozaburo), 1925

oban tate-e 15 3/8 by 10 3/8 in., 39 by 26.5 cm

Many artists of the first half of the 20th century drifted back and forth between the two poles of the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement, which emphasized the artist as the creator, and the shin-hanga (new print) movement, which sought to produce modern works through the traditional hanmoto (publisher) system utilizing professional carvers and printers. Oda Kazuma was one of the rare artists who was able to produce notable works by both means; that is, with a publisher or independently.

Although Oda was one of the most active and prominent artists associated with the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement which emphasized a preference for self-carved and self-printed works, in the 1920s he designed six woodblock prints which were professionally published by the prominent shin-hanga publisher, Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962). All six designs, including this one, were later represented in the 1930 groundbreaking modern print exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art.

In the 1996 publication on the shin-hanga collection in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Brown and Goodall-Cristante juxtapose this design with a woodblock print by Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) depicting a twilight view of the village of Arifuku from a remarkably similar vantage. Both published only one year apart by Watanabe, the two compositions suggest a dialogue between the two artists, transmitted through the shared publisher. While the prominent black lines utilized in Hasui's print seem influenced by the vitality of the self-carved, self-printed works of sosaku-hanga artists; the heavy falling snow blanketing the Oda print leans towards the nostalgic idealism of the shin-hanga movement.

References:
Dorothy Blair, Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930 (1997 reprint), no. 171
Kendall H. Brown & Hollis Goodall-Cristante, Shin-Hanga: New Prints in Modern Japan, 1996, p. 78, figs 104 (Hasui) & 105 (Oda)
Amanda T. Zehnder, Modern Japanese Prints: The Twentieth Century, Carnegie Museum of Art, 2009, p. 136
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 211, cat. no. 178
Chris Uhlenback, Jim Dwinger, Philo Ouweleen, Shin Hanga: The New Prints of Japan 1900-1960, 2022, p. 173, cat. 154
Art Institute of Chicago, Clarence Buckingham Collection, reference no. 1929.478
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, M.2000.105.3

(inv. no. C-3387)

SOLD

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Night music on a Floating Pavillion
(Suite yakyoku)

color lithograph, self-printed, with artist's seal in hiragana, Oda, possibly an artist's proof from an edition of twelve, ca. September 1927

23 1/4 by 18 3/8 in., 59.2 by 46.6 cm

Descriptive title: Musicians on a Verandah with Lanterns

The city of Tokyo was a changed landscape following the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. In the aftermath of the destruction and devastation, reconstruction on a monumental scale was needed to clear away the rubble and rebuild vital infrastructure, municipal, commercial and residential buildings. An unthinkably daunting task, the restoration of the city was seen by some visionaries in the government (particularly the former mayor of Tokyo and newly appointed Home Minister, Goto Shinpei, 1857-1929) as an opportunity to build a new metropolis for the modern era. By the mid to late 1920s Tokyo was humming with vitality, and consequently, much of the art produced in the second half of the 1920s reflected a renewed atmosphere of optimism and a keen interest in the changing city. Images of the transforming urban landscape and its denizens were a popular subject among printmakers, particularly the forward-looking artists of the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement.

Oda Kazuma drew inspiration from daily life in the city and frequently depicted cityscapes and dynamic street scenes. His nocturnal views of atmospheric, murky hues were punctuated by orbs of glowing lanterns or radiating electrified light. Od devoted several print series to activities in the buzzing entertainment districts of Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo, including Ginza and Shinjuku. His figural subjects were often creatures of the night: movie cinema and theater attendees, waitresses and their patrons, maiko (apprentice geisha) and other women associated with entertainments such as musicians and dancers.

This large format print is in company with a small group of masterful prints in which Oda explored full-length standing beauties, a departure from his usual focus on landscapes and urban life. In 1925 he produced a richly colored lithograph for his Views of Kyoto (Kyoto fukei hanga shu) series titled Kamo River (Kamogawa) which depicted the back view of a maiko standing at an open shoji door at night looking out across the river at snow-covered rooftops on the opposite side. In 1927 he produced two variations of a triptych revisiting the theme with forward-facing musicians standing in front of a railing overlooking a river lit by glowing lanterns and with the reflection of distant lights shimmering in the water, titled Night Music on a Floating Pavillion (Suitei yakyoku). One version features a single elegant flautist alone in the center panel flanked by a woman holding a shamisen in each of the outer panels; the other version features this composition with two figures in the center panel. It is possible, perhaps even likely, that this print was the precursor to the center panel with the single figure, and as such, may be one of very few extant artist's proofs. According to Fujimoto, Kazuma produced a mere twelve impressions of this print.

References:
Fujimoto Shozo, Oda Kazuma: Sekibanga zensakuhin-shu (Oda Kazuma: Complete Collection of Lithographs), 1974, Index p. 27; illus. p. 63, nos. 162 (this composition), 163-167 two variations left and right panels; and cover illus. (alternate center panel)
Kato Junzo, Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol. 1, the first tipped in frontispiece (alternate center panel)
Oda Kazuma Exhibition: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- Changing Scenery (Oda Kazuma Ten: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- utsuriyuku Fuukei), Machida Shiritsu Kokusai Hanga Bijutsukan, 2000, p. 87, no. 97 (Kamo River, 1925); p. 96, no. 118 (complete related triptych)

(inv. no. C-3908)

$14,000

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Collection of Japanese Modern Creative Prints: Snow by the Moat
(Nihon gendai sosaku hanga taishu: Sotobori no yuki)

woodblock print, with artist's hiragana seal at lower left, Kazuma, the blocks carved by the artist and printed by Shimizu Koichi, published by Nihon Hanga-sha, ca. 1927-28

8 1/4 by 11 1/2 in., 20.8 by 29.3 cm

While many artists of the first half of the 20th century drifted back and forth between the two poles of sosaku-hanga and shin-hanga, Oda was an artist who was able to produce notable works by both means; that is, with a publisher or independently. Interestingly, although this print bears all of the hallmarks of the sosaku-hanga movement, and the blocks were indeed carved by Oda, the blocks were printed by Shimizu Koichi (b. 1895) and it was published by the Nihon Hanga-sha (Japan Print Company) in 1928. Active from the mid-1920s, the Nihon Hanga-sha was established by Hasegawa Tsuneo for the printing and marketing of works from self-carved sosaku-hanga blocks.

The print, and the next design, Night at Asakusa, were was included in the collaborative series, Collection of Japanese Modern Creative Prints (Nihon gendai sosaku hanga taishu), which also included works by Ishii Tsuruzo (1887-1973), Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955), Hiratsuka Un'ichi (1895-1997), Nagase Yoshio (1891-1978) and Maekawa Senpan (1888-1960), with each artist contributing two designs for a total of twelve prints in the series. The artists carved the blocks which were printed by Shimizu and a preface was provided by the artist Yamamoto Kanae (1882-1946).

Alternate descriptive title: Willow Bridge in Snow (Yanagibashi no yuki)

References:
Helen Merritt, Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, 1990, p. 62
Helen Merritt & Nanako Yamada, Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 114 (re: Oda Kazuma); p. 218 (re: Nihon Hanga-sha); p. 266 (on series)
Amanda T. Zehnder, Modern Japanese Prints: The Twentieth Century, Carnegie Museum of Art, 2009, p. 136 (with alternate title: Willow Bridge in Snow)
Kawagoe City Museum of Art, Koshiro Onchi and Kazuma Oda, kawag.net/page064.html
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 55.356

(inv. no. 10-3190)

$2,400

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Collection of Japanese Modern Creative Prints: Night in Asakusa
(Nihon gendai sosaku hanga taishu: Asakusa no yoru)

woodblock print, with artist's seal Kazuma at lower left, self-carved by the artist and printed by Shimizu Koichi, published by Nihon Hanga-sha, ca. 1927-28

8 7/8 by 12 3/8 in., 22.7 by 31.3 cm

While Oda Kazuma was prolific artist who worked primarily as a lithographer, he was also an ukiyo-e enthusiast, publishing two books on the subject and occasionally carved woodblocks himself. Although he embraced the 'artist as creator' ethos of the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement and belonged to several related organizations, he also designed six shin-hanga (new print) style woodblock prints professionally-produced by carvers and printers working with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962).

This print, and the previous design, Snow by the Moat, were included in the collaborative series, Collection of Japanese Modern Creative Prints (Nihon gendai sosaku hanga taishu) published by the Nihon Hanga-sha (Japan Print Company) in 1927-28. The set of twelve prints also included works by Ishii Tsuruzo (1887-1973), Onchi Koshiro (1891-1955), Hiratsuka Un'ichi (1895-1997), Nagase Yoshio (1891-1978) and Maekawa Senpan (1888-1960), with each artist contributing two designs for a total of twelve prints in the series. The artists carved the blocks which were printed by Shimizu Koichi (1895-?) and a preface was provided by the artist Yamamoto Kanae (1882-1946). Active from around the mid-1920s, the Nihon Hanga-sha was established by Hasegawa Tsuneo for the printing and marketing of works from self-carved sosaku-hanga blocks.

References:
Chiaki Ajioka, Waves of Renewal: Modern Japanese Prints, 1900 to 1960, 2016, p. 125 (artist's biography)
Helen Merritt, Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 114 (re: Oda Kazuma); p. 218 (re: Nihon Hanga-sha); p. 266 (on series)
The Museum of Modern Art, Ibaraki, registration no. P-285

(inv. no. 10-5522)

$2,200

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Print Collection of Great Tokyo: Twilight at Ginza
(Daitokyo shinkei hanga shu: Ginza no hakubo)

woodblock print, with artist's seal Kazuma at lower right, the self-carved blocks likely printed by Shimizu Koichi for the publisher Hasgawa Tsuneo of Nihon Hanga-sha, ca. 1929-30

aiban yoko-e 9 3/8 by 12 7/8 in., 23.8 by 32.8 cm

Born in Tokyo, Oda Kazuma spent his formative teenage years in Osaka where his family moved when he was twelve. At the age of sixteen he began studying with his elder brother Oda Tou (1873-1933) who was a painter and worked as a technician in a lithography studio. Oda also found work in a lithography studio in Hiroshima in 1899, and then visited Tokyo in 1900 for further training in lithography with the artist Kaneko Masajiro (fl. ca. 1884-1900s). He returned to Tokyo in 1903 to study Western-style painting with Kawamura Kiyoo (1899-1934) and worked at the Koshiba Lithography Studio. Oda thrived in Tokyo, and lively views of street scenes and cityscapes, such as this one, were frequent subjects in his work.

Throughout his artistic carer, Oda worked primarily as a lithographer, but he was also an ukiyo-e enthusiast, publishing books on the subject and occasionally carving woodblocks himself. Although he embraced the 'artist as creator' ethos of the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement, primarily self-printing and self-publishing his own lithographs and participating as an active member in several related organizations, Oda also designed six woodblock prints which were professional produced by the shin-hanga (new print) publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962).

In contrast, while this print is evocative of the sosaku-hanga style, with blocks surely carved by Oda himself, he deferred the printing and publishing to Hasegawa Tsuneo of the Nihon Hanga-sha (Japan Print Company) who likely hired the Shimizu Koichi (b. 1895) to print the edition. Active from around the mid-1920s, the Nihon Hanga-sha was established by Hasegawa for the printing and marketing of works from self-carved sosaku-hanga blocks.

References:
Chiaki Ajioka, Waves of Renewal: Modern Japanese Prints, 1900 to 1960, 2016, p. 125 (artist's biography)
The British Musuem (www.britishmuseum.org), registration no. 1987,0316,0.555
National Diet Library Digital Collection (dl.ndl.go.jp), call no. 278-73

(inv. no. C-3222)

SOLD

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Collected Pictures of Ginza: First Series, No. 4, Bar Bacchus in Ginza
(Gashu ginza: Dai isshu, dai yon zu, Sakeba bakkasu)

color lithograph self-printed and self-published by the artist; signed and dated in pencil on the bottom right margin, Kazuma Oda 1929, the outer envelope with the title, Oda Kazuma Jiga sekiban (Oda Kazuma 'stone printed' [lithograph]), gashu Ginza (Ginza Picture Series), dai isshu dai yon zu (First Series, Fourth Scene), Ginza Bakkasu (Bar Baccchus in Ginza), and numbered within the left cartouche, niju-mai insatsu no uchi, ichi-mai me (limited edition of 20, first print), signed and dated at lower right, K. Oda, 1929

print 7 1/4 by 11 5/8 in., 18.3 by 29.5 cm
envelope 13 by 8 3/8 in., 33 by 21.2 cm

Oda Kazuma spent his formative teenage years in Osaka where his family moved to from Tokyo when he was twelve. He began his artistic training with his older brother Oda Tou (1873-1933), who had already established himself as a painter and lithographic technician in Osaka. In 1899, Oda began to work at a lithography studio in Hiroshima, and the following year he visited to Tokyo to study lithography with Kaneko Masajiro (fl. ca. 1884-1933). He returned to Tokyo in 1903 where he worked at the Koshiba lithography studio and studied Western-style painting with Kawamura Kiyoo (1899-1934). Young Oda began exhibiting his paintings a few years later, including at the first government sponsored Bunten in 1907. Throughout his career, Oda focused primarily on lithography, establishing himself as one of the foremost artists to popularize the technique in Japan. He was also an ukiyo-e enthusiast, with a collection of ehon (woodblock printed illustrated books) by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) and publishing two books on the subject. Oda embraced the 'artist as creator' ethos of the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement, primarily self-printing and self-publishing his lithographs which he issued in small editions.

Oda seems to have thrived in Tokyo, and frequently depicted scenes from daily life in the city. This print is from a series devoted to the bustling Tokyo neighborhood of Ginza, newly rebuilt after the devastation from the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Spending time in Ginza became such a popular amusement it inspired its own word, ginbura (strolling in Ginza). Oda produced two print series devoted to Ginza, the first in 1928 and another the following year, featuring fashionable denizens enjoying its lively cafés, dancehalls, theaters and cinemas. This design, accompanied by the original numbered envelope in which it was issued, illustrates a cozy view of a couple having drinks under crimson autumnal branches at the Bar Bacchus.

References:
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Catalogue of Collections: Prints, 1993, p. 60, no. 509
Oda Kazuma Exhibition: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- Changing Scenery (Oda Kazuma Ten: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- utsuriyuku Fuukei), Machida Shiritsu Kokusai Hanga Bijutsukan, 2000, p. 99, no. 123
Nihon no hanga III 1921-1930, Toshi to onna to hikari to kage to (Japanese Prints III, 1921-1930: Cities and Women, Lights and Shadows), Chiba City Museum of Art, 2001, p. 139, no. 305-4
Chris Uhlenbeck, Amy Reigle Newland and Maureen de Vries, Waves of Renewal: Modern Japanese Prints, 1900-1960, 2016, p. 129 (on Ginza series)
Marije Jansen, Japan: Modern, Japanese prints from the Elise Wessels Collection, 2016, p. 223 (re: Ginza)
Art Institute of Chicago, reference no. 1949.467

(inv. no. 10-5510)

SOLD

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Collected Pictures of Ginza: First Series, No. 6, Ginza Cinema
(Gashu ginza: Dai isshu, dai roku zu, Shinema Ginza)

color lithograph, self-printed, 1 of 20 limited edition, signed and dated on the bottom margin in pencil, Kazuma Oda 1929; with original numbered envelope, the envelope verso with the series title and index, Jiga sekiban ('stone printed' [lithograph]), gashu Ginza (Ginza Picture Series), dai isshu mokuroku (First Series Index), with the list of six prints from the series, and at left, Gashu Ginza wa honzuri nijumai (Ginza, limited edition of 20), with date 1929, and along the bottom, Oda sosaku hanga kenkyujo ban (Oda creative print study center edition); and the envelope front titled in overlapping cartouches, Oda Kazuma Jiga sekiban (Oda Kazuma 'stone printed' [lithograph]), gashu Ginza (Ginza Picture Series), dai isshu dai roku zu (First Series, Sixth Scene), Shinema Ginza (Ginza Cinema), and numbered within the cartouche at lower left, Niju-mai insatsu no uchi, ichi-mai me (limited edition of 20, first print), signed and dated at lower right, K. Oda, 1929

print 11 5/8 by 7 3/8 in., 29.5 by 18.7 cm
envelope 12 7/8 by 8 1/4 in., 32.7 by 20.8 cm

Oda Kazuma spent his formative teenage years in Osaka where his family moved to from Tokyo when he was twelve. But much of his artistic training took place in Tokyo, where he eventually settled for most of his adult life. Oda seems to have thrived in the booming metropolis, and urban daily life was a source of inspiration throughout his career.

This print is from a series devoted to the bustling Tokyo neighborhood of Ginza, newly rebuilt after the devastation from the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Oda produced two print series devoted to Ginza, the first in 1928 and another the following year, featuring fashionable denizens enjoying its lively cafés, dancehalls, theaters and cinemas. Taking in the sights in Ginza was so popular a new word, ginbura (strolling in Ginza), was created to describe the activity. This design, accompanied by the original numbered envelope in which it was issued, illustrates a view of a cinema interior, the distant screen is illuminated by the projected movie featuring a foreign subject, with actors wearing Western-style clothing. The popular film has filled the theater to capacity with standing room only; several attendees line the aisle to the right, apparently entranced by the flickering tale unfolding before them.

References:
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Catalogue of Collections: Prints, 1993, p. 61, no. 512
Oda Kazuma Exhibition: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- Changing Scenery (Oda Kazuma Ten: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- utsuriyuku Fuukei), Machida Shiritsu Kokusai Hanga Bijutsukan, 2000, p. 100, no. 125 (envelope included)
Nihon no hanga III 1921-1930, Toshi to onna to hikari to kage to (Japanese Prints III, 1921-1930: Cities and Women, Lights and Shadows), Chiba City Museum of Art, 2001, p. 138, no. 305-6
Marije Jansen, Japan: Modern, Japanese prints from the Elise Wessels Collection, 2016, p. 223 (re: Ginza)

(inv. no. 10-5210)

SOLD

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Collected Pictures of Ginza: Second Seies, No. 1, A Girl Selling Dolls
(Gashu ginza: Dai nishu, dai ichi zu, Ningyo uri no shojo)

color lithograph; numbered in pencil at lower left, 12/20, inscribed in Japanese on the bottom margin, 2 no 1 (no. 1 of second series), and signed and dated, Kazuma Oda 1929

7 1/2 by 11 5/8 in., 19 by 29.5 cm

This print is from a series devoted to the bustling neighborhood of Ginza, newly rebuilt after the devastation from the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. Oda produced two print series devoted to Ginza, the first in 1928 and another in 1929, featuring fashionable denizens enjoying its lively cafés, dancehalls, theaters and cinemas. This design, from the second Ginza series, illustrates a lonely figure of a young girl sitting on the ledge of a brightly-light shop window near an open door revealing a theater filled to capacity. The window display features household goods including a large tea set and illuminated electric lamp with a Tiffany glass-style lampshade. The girl is bundled up in a natty dark red and black striped cape and matching red hat, her hands are unseen, no doubt tucked into her clothing to keep warm against the chilly night air. A tray of small dolls is suspended from her shoulders, a souvenir on offer to remember an entertaining night on the town.

References:
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Catalogue of Collections: Prints, 1993, p. 61, no. 515
Oda Kazuma Exhibition: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- Changing Scenery (Oda Kazuma Ten: Meiji, Taisho, Showa- utsuriyuku Fuukei), Machida Shiritsu Kokusai Hanga Bijutsukan, 2000, p. 101, no. 126
Art Institute of Chicago, reference no. 1949.468 (gift of the artist)
Mead Art Museum at Amherst College, accession no. AC2012.312.1

(inv. no. 10-5209)

$3,700

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Sumida Park, Summer Evening
(Sumida Koen)

woodblock print, self-carved, (possibly) self-printed; artist's hiragana seal Kazuma, titled in and dated in English, SUMIDA KOEN 1930

oban yoko-e 10 1/4 by 14 1/2 in., 26 by 36.9 cm

Although Oda worked primarily as a lithographer throughout his artistic career, he was also an ukiyo-e enthusiast, collecting ehon (woodblock printed illustrated books) by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), publishing books on Hokusai and ukiyo-e. Oda explored woodblock printmaking in his own work, designing six woodblock prints through the auspices of the leading shin hanga (new print) publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) in the early -mid 1920s. He also experimented with carving his own woodblocks in the spirit of the sosaku hanga (creative print) movement, some of which were published by the Nihon Hanga-sha (Japan Print Company). While the blocks for this print were surely carved by Oda, it is not clear if he handled the printing himself or it may have been printed by Shimizu Koichi (b. 1895) who often issued editions on behalf of sosaku-hanga artists.

References:
Helen Merritt, Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: The Early Years, 1990, p. 129 & p. 138 (on Orlik)
Helen Merritt & Nanako Yamada, Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 114 (artist’s biography)
Chiaki Ajioka, Waves of Renewal: Modern Japanese Prints, 1900 to 1960, 2016, p. 125 (artist's biography)
Art Institute of Chicago, reference no. 1984.14
Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum (edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp), collection no., 91210513

(inv. no. 10-5746)

$1,500

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Famous Mountains of Japan: Mt. Hodaka in Kamikochi
(Nihon meizan gafu: Kamikochi hodakayama)

numbered, signed, and dated in pencil on the bottom margin, 4/20, Kazuma Oda 1938

15 3/8 by 20 7/8 in., 39 by 53 cm

The vast majority of Oda’s oeuvre was in the medium of lithography, which he printed and published himself in keeping with the ‘artist as creator’ ethos of the sosaku-hanga (creative print) movement. Although he was prolific with his designs (producing over 200 lithographs), he was judicious in his print production, his self-published prints were issued in small editions, usually limited to 20 or sometimes 50 impressions.

Oda continued to produce prints well into the late 1940s, donating lithographs to American museums. Some of the American museums holding works by Oda Kazuma include Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Museum of Art, Cincinnati Art Museum, Harvard Art Museums, Honolulu Art Museum, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, National Museum of Asian Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Museum of Fine Art, Boston, and Toledo Museum of Art. And in 1953 he established the Oda Lithography Studio (Oda Sekihanjutsu Kenkyujo).

References:
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 206
John Fiorillo, Viewing Japanese Prints: Oda Kazuma (viewingjapaneseprints.net)
The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, Catalogue of Collections: Prints, 1993, p. 67, no. 572

(inv. no. 10-5116)

$1,600

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Studies in Water-Colour, Fourth Series

group of eight lithograph prints (the fourth set from a series of five), in original envelope with informational sheet detailing the color separations with colors grouped by hue and identified in English; published by Fubunkan, Tokyo, and Koseikan, Osaka,the envelope dated Meiji sanjushichinen nigatsu nijunanaichi (Meiji 37 [1904], February 27)

envelope: 10 3/8 by 7 3/8 in., 26.5 by 18.8 cm
each print approx. 7 3/8 by 5 in., 18.8 by 12.8 cm

Each on original cardstock with title slip on verso:

1. Deer (Shika)
2. Grove (Kodachi)
3. Schoolgirl (Jogakusei)
4. Evening View of a Fishing Village (Gyoson yukei)
5. Winter Withering (Fuyuka)
6. Ducks (Ahiru)
7. Village View (Mura kei)
8. Brushes (Fudetate)

Born in Tokyo, Oda Kazuma studied Western-style painting with Kawamura Kiyoo (1899-1934) and lithography with his older brother Oda Tou (who operated a lithography shop in Osaka), and Kaneko Masajiro (active 1884-early 1900s). Kazuma worked primarily as a lithographer, but he was also an ukiyo-e enthusiast publishing two books on the subject and owned a collection of Hokusai ehon. He began working as a designer with the Koshiba lithography studio in Tokyo in 1903 and was one of the foremost artists to popularize lithography in Japan. Kazuma explored woodblock printmaking as well, experimenting with carving and printing his own work in the spirit of the sosaku hanga (creative print movement), as well as publishing six woodblock prints through the auspices of the leading shin hanga publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) in the 1920s.

In 1900 an introductory book teaching watercolor painting by Oshita Tojiro (1870-1911) was a best-seller, demonstrating the robust interest in the medium. This didactive collection of images (the fourth in a series of five) reflects both a timely response to a new market as well as a continuation of a long-standing tradition of artists publishing instructive manuals for other artists in the same manner as the illustrated books by Hokusai that Kazuma collected and used as a source of inspiration in his own work.

References:
Oda Kazuma Ten: Meiji - Taisho - Showa, Utsuriyuku Fuukei (Oda Kazuma Exhibition: Meiji - Taisho Showa, Changing Scenery), 2000, p. 136, no. 210 (for another in the series)
Koyama Shuko, Kawase Hasui's Travels Scenes: An Investigation from the Viewpoint of Taisho-Era Tourism, in, Kendall Brown, ed., Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2014, p. 40 (on watercolors)

(inv. no. 10-5211)

SOLD