verso seal
Paul Jacoulet, 1902-1960
Premier Amour, Yap, Ouest Carolines
woodblock print with silver-white mica over dark pink-brown ground on thick paper with artist's watermark of his initials and name in kanji, JP Jyaku Rei, karazuri (blind printing or gauffrage) highlighting the garland of flowers; elegantly pencil signed at lower right, Paul Jacoulet, with red artist's seal 'good luck' seal (in the shape of Daikoku's mallet), paper title seal in lower right margin, PREMIER AMOUR, "Jeune Fille de Yap", and block carver's seal at lower left, Kentaro to (Maeda Kentaro, active 1924-61), red limited edition cartouche on verso, Hyakugoju mai zeppan dai rokujuichi ban (150 limited edition, number 61), published by the artist, ca. 1937
dai oban yoko-e 14 3/4 by 15 1/8 in., 37.5 by 38.3 cm
Jacoulet made the transition from painter to printmaker after meeting the artist and block carver Kazuo Yamagishi (ca. 1893-1966), who also carved the blocks for the landmark series Ten Types of Female Nudes (Rajo Jusshu) by Ishikawa Toraji (1875-1964). 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.
Reference:
Richard Miles, The Prints of Paul Jacoulet, 1982, pp. 97-98, illus. p. 53, cat. no. 43
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