Ikeda Terukata

1883-1921

Brocades of Edo: Wisteria
(Edo no nishiki: Fuji)

finely printed, the folding fan highlighted with mica; signed Terukata with artist's seal Kazan, published by Akiyama Buemon of Kokkeido, ca. 1903

oban yoko-e 9 3/4 by 14 5/8 in., 24.9 by 37.2 cm

A beauty seated on the second floor balcony of a teahouse leans on the railing while holding a folding fan highlighted with mica. The composition is framed diagonally by a large cloth banner decorated with the crest of the house, the railing draped in red cloth, and a folding screen the background behind dangling vines of blossoming wisteria.

Ikeda Terukata was a student in the school of Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908) from 1895, where he met Ikeda Shoen (1888-1917), a fellow student who would become his wife in 1911. Terukata and Shoen were a part of a circle of artists, including Kaburagi Kiyokata (1878-1972), who at the turn of the 20th century produced mostly bijinga in commercial prints or kuchi-e (frontispiece illustrations) in a manner more idealized and romantic than the raunchy leanings of earlier ukiyo-e.

Over a period of approximately a dozen years beginning in 1897, the publisher Akiyama Buemon of Kokkeido, and Matsuki Heikichi of Daikoku-ya, issued several horizontal bijin series of this type, sold individually or in orihon (folding albums) once the series was completed. The sentimental portrayals of women were among the few single-sheet woodblock print series in production by the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912). This series of fifteen prints, Brocade of Edo (Edo no nishiki), completed and released in an album dated Meiji 36 (1903), seems to have been the inspiration for (or inspired by) a similarly titled and formatted series, Edo Brocades (Edo nishiki), designed by Toyohara Chikanobu (1838-1912) and published by Matsuki Heikichi of Daikoku-ya in 1903-1904. On the dated title page with table of contents that accompanied the series in album format, the publisher explains that he was motivated to produce this series "to discover new things by studying the past."

References:
Amy Reigle Newland, and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 209 (artist's biography)
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Louis W. Hill collection, accession no. 96.146.157A (album with title page dated Meiji 36 [1903])

(inv. no. 10-1948)

SOLD

Mizuno Toshikata

1866-1908

Spring Sea
(Haru no Umi)

kuchi-e (woodblock printed frontispiece) published in vol. 11, no. 4 of Bungei Kurabu (popular literary magazine); with artist's seal Toshikata, published by Hakubunkan, 1905

11 5/8 by 8 3/4 in., 29.4 by 22.2 cm

Mizuno Toshikata, born Nonaka Kumejiro, was born in the Kanda district of Edo in 1866 during the final years under the Tokugawa shogunal government. His father, a plasterer, and his stepmother were strict and raised him to have a strong sense of responsibility and work ethic. He entered the atelier of the (last) great ukiyo-e artist, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), at the age of fourteen. Later his father pulled him from the studio, worried that the master's notorious reputation for self-indulgence would be a bad influence on young Kumejiro. After a period of painting ceramics, he returned to Yoshitoshi who gave him the go (art name) Toshikata, taking the toshi from the second character of Yoshitoshi, and named the young disciple as his successor and future standard-bearer of ukiyo-e. In contrast with his predecessor, Toshikata was a serious (and sober) teacher who pushed his students to excel beyond him. His followers include Ikeda Terukata (1883-1921) and his wife, Ikeda Shoen (1888-1917), Hirano Hakuho (1879-1957), and Kaburaki Kiyokata (1878-1972), the artist who taught many stars of shin-hanga.

Toshikata was disciplined with his time and kept up a prolific output. He was the staff illustrator for the newspaper Yamato shimbun from 1887-1904, producing daily sashi-e (inserts). From the period around 1890, he also designed lithograph illustrations for the magazine Shinshosetsu and kuchi-e for novels for publishers including Hakubunkan and Shun'yodo and forty-eight kuchi-e for the popular literary magazine Bungei Kurabu. Toshikata also produce bijinga print series for Akiyama Buemon of Kokkeido including, Thirty-Six Types of Beauty (Sanju-rokkasen) in 1891, Present Day Beauties (Imayo bijin) in 1898-99, and two fashion series for the Mitsui (and renamed Mitsukoshi) department store, Brocade Prints of the Capital (Miyako no nishiki) in 1898 and 1905-06. Sadly, Toshikata died in 1908 at the age of only 42, reputedly from over-work.

This print accompanied volume 11, no. 4 of the Bungei Kurabu magazine as a decorative frontispiece, not asociated with a particular article or story in the issue.

References:
Helen Merritt, and Nanako Yamada, Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture, 2000, pp. 133-137, color plate 6.3; pp. 209-210 (artist's biography)
Nanako Yamada, Mokuhan Kuchi-e (Survey of Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints), 2006, p. 348
National Museum of Asian Art, Robert O. Muller Collection (Sackler Gallery) accession no. S2003.8.1471

(inv. no. C-3262)

SOLD

Ikeda Shoen

1886-1917

Layered Mist: A Rainy Day in Spring
(Yaekasumi)

a beauty opening a black umbrella, very finely printed with the black of her hair, collar and folds of her obi printed with lacquer, and silver mica on her hair ornament and the cherry blossoms decorating the inner-kosode; signed Shoen with artist's seal Shoen, published by Kokkeido (Akiyama Buemon), ca. 1906

oban yoko-e 9 5/8 by 14 5/8 in., 24.6 by 37.2 cm

Ikeda Shoen was a prominent female student in the school of Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908), where she met her husband Ikeda Terukata (1883-1921). The couple were a part of a circle of artists, including Kaburagi Kiyokata (1878-1972), who at the turn of the 20th century produced mostly romanticized bijinga in commercial prints or kuchi-e (frontispiece illustrations).

The publisher Akiyama Buemon issued other print series of this type portraying idealized beauties by artists from the group, including Shoen's husband Terukata and their teacher, Toshikata. Sold individually or in albums, they were among the few single-sheet woodblock print series in production via the traditional hanmoto (publisher) system the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912).

In 1916 both Shoen and Terukata received high awards at the tenth Bunten (art exhibition sponsored by the Ministry of Education), but Shoen contracted tuberculosis and died at the young age of thirty-one the following year. After her death, a design by Shoen, Mild Late Autumn Day (Koharubi), was included as the November print from the first (pre-earthquake) set of the collaborative series, Comparison of New Ukiyo-e Beauties (Shin bijin awase), published in 1918.

References:
Amy Reigle Newland, and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 208 (artist's biography)
(inv. no. 10-1957)

SOLD

Kajita Hanko

1870-1917

A Nap
(Utatane)

kuchi-e (woodblock printed frontispiece) published in vol. 12, no. 9 of Bungei Kurabu (popular literary magazine); with artist's seal Hanko, published by Hakubunkan, June 1906

11 1/2 by 8 5/8 in., 29.2 by 21.9 cm

Kajita Hanko (given name Jojiro) was the son of Kajita Masaharu, a metalsmith in Tokyo. Jojiro began studying art around the age of thirteen with Nabeta Gyokuei, initially taking the art name Gyokushu, but withdrew for a time due to an eye disease. When his condition improved he became the student of the Ishii Kenko (1847-1897), a nanga artist who had also studied Western-painting. Kenko was the father of the artists Ishii Hakutei (1882-1958) and Ishii Tsuruzo (1887-1973), both of whom were involved with the creative print movement. In 1886 Jojiro began working for an export company where he met the painter and print artist, Suzuki Kason (1860-1919). Kajiro took the art name Hanko in the same year. In April 1898 he married the novelist Kitada Usurai (1868-1900), but she died a little over two years later in November of 1900 from tuberculosis at the age of only twenty-four.

His early work included Sino-Japanese war triptychs in 1896, and in 1899 he began designing sashi-e (inserts) for the Yomiuri shimbun newspaper which led to designing kuchi-e for novels. He was an active member of various painting groups, and starting in 1902 he began heading a study group and private art school for life drawing called Hakkokai (Or Byakkokai) that attracted participation from the famous nihonga painter Maeda Seison (1885-1977), kuchi-e artists such Tsutsui Toshimine (1863-1934) and Yamanaka Kodo (1869-1945), as well as Kaburaki Kiyokata (1878-1972) and Uehara Konen (1878-1940), both of whom would play a role in the shin-hanga movement.

References:
Helen Merritt, and Nanako Yamada, Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture, 2000, pp. 174-175, no. 6.31; pp. 201-203 (artist's biography)
Nanako Yamada, Mokuhan Kuchi-e (Survey of Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints), 2006, p. 246
National Museum of Asian Art, Robert O. Muller Collection (Sackler Gallery) accession no. S2003.8.435

(inv. no. C-3260)

SOLD

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 (885-1962) 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)

$750

various artists (early shin hanga)

A Ten-Men Sketch-Tour
(Junin Shasei Ryoko)

the bound with printed paper over boards, gilt title on cover and on cloth spine, two-color decoration on the back cover; with 85 illlustrations including four woodblock prints, two lithographs, ten zincographs, and sixty-nine half-tone and photolithographs including eight 3-color halftones and forty-three shashin-ban (black and white halftones), published by Kashima Chojiro (Kobunsha), dated Meiji 44 (1911)

book 7 5/8 by 5 1/28 in., 19.31 by 13 cm

By the early 1900s, the woodblock print industry was in steady decline and there were limited opportunities for artists seeking to supplement their income from art sales with graphic works such as commissions from newspapers and publishers of illustrated books. Artists that focused on landscape subjects were at a particular disadvantage--what little graphic work that was available primarily related to designing kuchi-e (frontispiece illustrations) for serialized novels that naturally leaned towards figural subjects in order to illustrate the story. Aside from small-format prints marketed to tourists, the landscape woodblock print market nearly non-existent (a remarkable shift compared to the height in the 19th century). Emerging in 1905, the publication of landscape illustrations from artist's sketch-tours filled the void, and then ended by 1920. During that fifteen year period, sketch-tour books provided a platform for landscape artists (primarily trained in Western-style artistic traditions), to see their work published and exposed to a wider audience than they could reach with exhibitions alone. The books helped popularize the work of individual artists, some of whom would go on to greater recogniztion. In addition to woodblock printed illustrations, publishers and artists increasingly explored utilizing a variety of means of printing available including lithographs, photo lithographs, zincographs (zinc plates could be brought into the field), machine-printed woodcuts, colotypes and various photographic processes. The free-ranging styles and themes represented in the art books provided a foundation for the landscape movement which dovetailed with the development of single-sheet shin-hanga landscape prints, the popularity of which quickly eclipsed the sketch-tour movement.

This book is an example of a sketch-tour book produced at the height of the format's popularity in 1911. The tour was of the region on the Inland Sea, a map near the back of the book details the artist's route. The book includes a halftone photograph of eight of the ten contributing artists assembled for the departure from Shinbashi Station in Tokyo. From left to right: Oshita Tojiro (1870-1911), Ishii Hakutei (1882-1958), Mitsutani Kunishiro holding a canvas (1874-1936), Kanokogi Takeshiro (1874-1941), Kosugi Misei (1884-1964), Yoshida Hiroshi (1876-1950) holding a cane, Nakagawa Hachiro (1877-1922), Takamura Shimpu (1876-1953), and the last person is identified as 'Makino.' The artists Kawai Shinzo (1867-1936) and Nakamura Fusetsu (1866-1943) missing from the group. The woodblock printed endpapers are decorated with caricatures of the ten artists in the front, and stylizations of their seals in the back.

Reference:
Scott Johnson, Sketch-tour books and prints of the early twentieth century, in Andon 37, Bulletin of the Society for Japanese Arts, October 1990

(inv. no. 10-4004)

SOLD

Kaburaki Kiyokata

1878-1972

Whirlpool, vol. 3
(Uzumaki)

kuchi-e (woodblock printed frontispiece) for the novel Whirlpool (Uzumaki), the hair highlighted with shomenzuri (burnishing); signed Kiyokata with artist's seal Kiyokata, published by Ryubunkan, 1913

12 by 8 1/2 in., 30.6 by 21.6 cm

Kiyokata, born Kaburaki Ken'ichi, was the son of Jono Saigiku, a writer and founder of the newspaper Yamato Shimbun. In 1891 his father arranged for Ken'ichi to study with Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908), a painter and contributor to the newspaper. Toshikata was a student of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), one of the last great masters of ukiyo-e. In 1893 Ken'ichi was given the go (art name) Kiyokata. From the mid-1890's, Kiyokata pursued a career as an illustrator. Starting with newspaper work, he eventually became a prolific designer of kuchi-e (novel frontispieces) and sashi-e (inserted illustrations). His illustrating commissions kept him busy, but by 1907 he resolved he would quit by the time he turned 40 in order to focus on paintings. In 1901 he helped establish the art group Ugokai, dedicated to reviving the popularity of the bijinga genre. From 1902 on he focused his energies on painting and began submitting his work to the government-sponsored Bunten exhibitions that began in that year, finally gaining acceptence to the 3rd exhibition in 1909, winning an award, and he won first prize at the 9th Bunten in 1915.

This frontispiece was included in the third volume of the novel Whirlpool (Uzumaki) by Watanabe Katei (Masaru Watanabe, 1884-1926) which was first serialized is the Osaka Asahi Shimbun in 1913, and then published in three volumes in 1913-1914 with a supplement volume by Ryubunkan in Tokyo. It tells the story of Kazue, a young mother struggling with a husband who has squandered her inherited fortune. It was later the subject of two movies.

References:
Helen Merritt, and Nanako Yamada, Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture, 2000, p. 96, color plate 4.18; pp. 198-201 (artist's biography)
Nanako Yamada, Mokuhan Kuchi-e (Survey of Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints), 2006, p. 272

(inv. no. C-3257)

$800

Kaburaki Kiyokata

1878-1972

Portfolio of Beauties by Kiyokata: Blue Stars
(Kiyokata bijin gafu: Aoki Hoshi)

signed Kiyokata, published by Nihon Bijutsugakuin in 1914

7 1/2 by 5 in., 19.2 by 12.6 cm

This print is from a small album published in 1914, Portfolio of Beauties by Kiyokata (Kiyokata bijin gafu), that included four woodblock prints along with eight photo lithographs based on paintings. Although Kiyokata achieved recognition primarily as a Nihonga (Japanese-style) painter and was not active in the shin-hanga movement, many important shin-hanga artists emerged from his atelier, including Ito Shinsui (1898-1972); Kawase Hasui (1883-1957); Kasamatsu Shiro (1898-1991); Yamakawa Shuho (1898-1944); Torii Kotondo (1900-1976), and Kobayakawa Kiyoshi (1896-1948).

In May of 1918, Kiyokata commented on the intention of shin-hanga:

"The new ukiyo-e that we are contemplating never seeks a low-class, vulgar style, nor uselessly touches sensually provocative subjects. Is it not enough to say that we are those who, aiming high, sincerely express the living society, the truth of life....Art created by the earnest and quiet contemplation of life is our desire." (Water and Shadow, p. 43)

References:
Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-Century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, p. 107, no. 80 (on Kiyokata bijin gafu)
Kaburaki Kiyokata: A Retrospective, Tokyo Museum of Modern Art, 1999
Helen Merritt, and Nanako Yamada, Woodblock Kuchi-e Prints: Reflections of Meiji Culture, 2000, pp. 198-201 (artist's biography)
Amy Reigle Newland, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 36 (on Kiyokata bijin gafu)
Koyama Shuko, Kawase Hasui's Travels and Travel Scenes: An Investigation from the Viewpoint of Taisho-Era Tourism, in Kendall Brown, Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, 2014, pp. 39-47
National Museum of Asian Art, Sackler Gallery, Robert O. Muller Collection, accession no. S2003.8.398

(inv. no. 10-4661)

SOLD

Tsukioka Kogyo

1860-1927

Cormorant Fishing at Night

signed Kogyo, published by Matsuki Heikichi of Daikokuya Matsuki, ca. 1910s

9 1/2 by 9 7/8 in., 24.2 by 25.2 cm

Born in Tokyo, Kogyo's given name at birth was Hanyu Sadanosuke. When he was 15 years old his mother married Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892), one of the greatest 'last' masters of ukiyo-e, taking the family name Tsukioka. Later he became a student of Ogata Gekko (1859-1920), who gave him his art name- Kogyo. He assumed leadership of the Tsukioka school in 1911, afterwhich he was known as Tsukioka Kogyo.

The publishing firm Daikokuya was established by the first Matsuki Heikichi in the Ryogoku area of Edo in 1764, and continued producing woodblock prints and books until around 1930 under four more successive generations, surviving into the 20th century when so many other publishing houses succumbed to the realities of the modern era. The fourth generation head, Matsuki Heikichi IV (Matsuki Toko, 1836-1891) was the publisher who in 1876 began production on an untitled series of landscape prints by Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) that utilized Western-style perspective which proved to be highly influential on future shin-hanga artists. Matsuki Heikichi V (1870-1931) carried on reissuing early Kiyochika prints from the original blocks and reproduction prints for the foreign market, but also developed a market for works by artists, such as Kogyo, transitioning from ukiyo-e and traditional Japanese techniques to modern Western-influenced subjects and styles. The firm was particularly active in developing a market for kacho-ga (bird-and-flower subjects), commissioning designs from Kogyo and other Japanese-style painters including Ogata Gekko (1859-1920), Watanabe Seitei (1851-1918), and Ohara Koson (1877-1945), who would become the most important and prolific kacho-ga artist in the shin-hanga movement.

(inv. no. 10-2828)

SOLD

Uehara Konen

1878-1940

winter landscape

sealed Konen, with publisher's seal of Kobayashi Bunshichi, followed by the number 322, n.d., ca. pre-1923

aiban yoko-e 9 1/4 by 14 in., 23.6 by 35.5 cm

Uehara Konen was born in the Asakusa district of Tokyo. He was a student of the painter Kajita Hanko (1870-1917) and of Matsumoto Fuko (1840-1923), who was the uncle of Takashi Shotei (Hiroaki, 1871-1945). Konen initially published his prints with Kobayashi Bunshichi (1864-1923), an ukiyo-e dealer who collected privately and also published reproductions. Kobayashi was a very influential figure; in 1898, he and Ernest Fenellosa (1853-1908, former curator of Japanese art of the MFA, Boston) organized the first exhibition of ukiyo-e in Ueno Park in Tokyo. He was also a supplier of Hayashi Tadamasa (1853-1906), the famous dealer of ukiyo-e located in Paris. Konen produced a great number of prints with Kobayashi, the lyrical subjects apparently intended to suit the tastes of buyers of classic ukiyo-e. Unfortunately, Kobayashi's shop and legendary collection of ukiyo-e were destroyed in the fires following the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. As a result, impressions of Konen's pre-earthquake prints are scarce.

Konen's prints published by Kobayashi Bunshichi frequently have a numbered cartouche following the artist and publisher seals. If these numbers designate the number of Konen works published, he must have been very prolific as there are designs extant which are numbered (at least) to the high 400s. With the death of Kobayashi in the same year as the 1923 earthquake, Konen turned to Watanabe Shozaburo (a former employee of Kobayashi from 1902-06), producing a small number of prints for his new publisher in the following decade.

References:
Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: 20th Century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, p. 103, pl. 69
Amy Reigle Newland, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, pp. 33-34
National Museum of Asian Art (Sackler Gallery), Robert O. Muller Collection, accession no. S2003.8.3119 (descriptive title Tug Boats in Snow)

(inv. no. C-3217)

SOLD

various artists (early shin hanga)

Pictures of Celebrated Places in Osaka and Kobe: Set of Thirty Woodblock Prints by Five Artists
(Hanshin Meisho zue: Zen)

complete set of thirty prints in green folio with title slip, Hanshin Meisho Zue; with frontispiece map and table of contents identifying the artists and the titles of each print, block carver Okura Hanbei II (d. 1925), printer Nishimura Kumakichi II, publisher Bun'endo (Kanao Tanejiro), and dated Taisho gonen, aki, jugatsu (Taisho 5 [1916], autumn, October), released starting in May 1917

each approximately 14 by 9 3/8 in., 35.7 by 24.9 cm

This collaborative series features scenes in and around the area of Osaka and Kobe (Hanshin). The prints were designed by five artists who at the time of production were illustrators for the Osaka Asahi Shinbun newspaper:

Noda Kyuho (1879-1971)
Akamatsu Rinsaku (1878-1953)
Mizushima Nihofu (1884-1958)
Hata Tsuneharu (1883-?)
Nagai Hyosai (1882-1945)

Each print is signed and/or sealed by the artist, with publication details on the lower left corner with the series title, the number the design is in the series, the print subject, the artist's name, the publisher Bun'endo, the printer Nishimura, and the carver Okura. The series appears to have been issued in two formats: as a set of thirty prints accompanied by a title page with a map and a table of contents; and initially in groups of five presented within six folders bearing a small printed landscape pasted to the cover (at least three of which were designed by Akamatsu Rinsaku, a lifelong friend of the publisher). Complete sets mounted in albums survive intact in the collection of The British Museum and the Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art (from the Pulverer Collection). The Pulverer set incluldes an English translation of the table of contents as indicated on the map, starting at Owada on the shore and proceeding clockwise around the region.

1. Owada by Noda Kyuho
2. Amagasaki by Akamatsu Rinsaku
3. Mukogawa by Mizushima Nihofu
4. Imazu by Hata Tsuneharu
5. Nishinomiya by Nagai Hyosai
6. Kabutoyama by Mizushima Nihofu
7. Koro-en by Hata Tsuneharu
8. Ashiya by Noda Kyuho
9. Uozaki by Hata Tsuneharu
10. Sumiyoshi by Akamatsu Rinsaku
11. Mikage by Nagai Hyosai
12. Oishi by Mizushima Nihofu
13. Sannomiya by Noda Kyuho
14. Kobe Wharf by Akamatsu Rinsaku
15. Kobe, Nankin-machi by Hata Tsuneharu
16. Aotani by Noda Kyuho
17. Mayasan by Mizushima Nihofu
18. Rokkozan by Akamatsu Rinsaku
19. Rokkozan by Hata Tsuneharu
20. Karato by Nagai Hyosai
21. Arima by Nagai Hyosai
22. Sanda by Noda Kyuho
23. Takedao by Mizushima Nihofu
24. Nashio by Akamatsu Rinsaku
25. Takarazuka by Hata Tsuneharu
26. Nakayama by Akamatsu Rinsaku
27. Hibari-ga-oka by Mizushima Nihofu
28. Itami by Nagai Hyosai
29. Nose by Noda Kyuho
30. Inagawa by Nagai Hyosai

Although very scarce (individually or as a set), these prints are frequently referenced by scholars and widely regarded as among the earliest examples of shin hanga landscapes. C.H. Mitchell states that "in fact the Hanshin prints appear to be the very first of all shin hanga landscapes." And Jack Hillier concurs that although Watanabe Shozaburo is the publisher generally credited with the introduction of shin hanga landscape prints, this set published by Kanao Tanejiro predates "the first of the Watanabe landscape prints." Presumably both Mitchell and Hillier are refering to Ito Shinsui's earliest landscape prints, however, one could debate that assertion depending on how one identifies the defining characterstics of shin hanga- a term which was not even in use at that time. Hillier also notes that the five artists that contributed to the series seemed less influenced by early Japanese print artists than by "western masters who adopted the Japanese techniques of print-making - for instance, Henri Riviere or P.A. Isaac in France." While Helen Merritt aligns the fluid brushwork captured in the prints with that of the Maruyama-Shijo painterly tradition.

The publisher Tanejiro was a native of Osaka, hence his interest in the locale, while his firm Bun'endo was located in Tokyo. Like Watanabe, Bun'endo was destroyed in the aftermath of the Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1, 1923. Unlike Watanabe, Tanejiro did not rebuild in Tokyo, but restablished his business Osaka.

References:
C. H. Mitchell, "Hanshin Meisho Zue: A Little-Known Early Shin Hanga Series," in Matthi Forrer, ed., Essays on Japanese Art Presented to Jack Hillier, 1982, pp. 118-24
Scott Johnson, Andon 37, "Sketch-tour books and prints of the early twentieth century," 1990, pp. 3-33
Jack Hillier, The Art of the Japanese Book, 1987, Vol. II, p. 1005-1008, illus. no. 666 (print no. 15, Kobe, Nankin-machi by Hata Tsuneharu), & p. 1007, color pl. 203 (print no. 10, Sumiyoshi by Akamatsu Rinsaku)
Helen Merritt, Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints: The Early Years, 1990, pp. 33-35 (print no. 1, print no. 1, Owada by Noda Kyuho; and print no. 3, Mukogawa by Mizushima Nihofu)
Lawrence Smith, Modern Japanese Prints 1912-1989: Woodblocks and Stencils, 1994, p. 32, cat. no. 4, color pl. 3 (print no. 1, Owada by Noda Kyuho)
Nihon No Hanga II: Kizamareta "kojin" no kyoen, 1999, p. 128, nos. 266-1 (print no. 19, Arima by Nagai Hyosai) & 266-2 (print no. 27, Hibari-ga-oka by Mizushima Nihofu)
Amy Reigle Newland, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 25, Fig. 7 (print no. 14, Kobe Warf by Akamatsu Rinsaku)
Chris Uhlenbeck, Maureen de Vries & Elise Wessels, Ode to the Countryside, 2010, pp. 20-22, no. 14 (print no. 10, Sumiyoshi, by Akamatsu Rinsaku) & no. 15 (print no. 18, Rokkozan by Akamatsu Rinsaku)
Chris Uhlenbeck, Maureen de Vries & Elise Wessels, The Kansai View, 2013, p. 21, no. 14 (print no. 14, Kobe Warf by Akamatsu Rinsaku), & no. 15 (print. no. 15, Kobe Market by Hata Tsuneharu)
The British Museum, accession no. 1991,0805,0.22 (complete set in album format)
Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art, Pulverer Collection, accession number FSC-GR-780.920 (complete set in album format)

(inv. no. 10-5193)

SOLD

Takahashi Shotei (Hiroaki)

1871-1945

Snow on Ayase River
(Ayasegawa no Yuki)

the title, Ayasegawa no yuki, followed by the date, Taisho yonen (Taisho 4 [1915]), and signed Shotei ga, with publisher's round circular seal, Watanabe, at lower right corner

tanzaku yoko-e 6 3/4 by 14 7/8 in., 17.2 by 37.8 cm

In 1906 Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) left his job at the Yokohama branch of the Kobayashi print shop in order to start his own ukiyo-e shop, Shobi-do (lit. Hall of Reverence for Art). His experience undoubtedly made him well aware of the market for ukiyo-e (antique, new, and reproductions), particularly in the foreign market. Venturing into publishing the following year, the first artist he hired was Shotei, who would produce many shinsaku hanga (new made, not reproduction prints), mostly in smaller formats (mitsugiri-ban, chuban, etc.), for Watanabe over the coming years.

In the period from 1907-1923 Shotei designed over five hundred woodblock prints for Watanabe. While a few of the earlier works (such as this one) have a large version of Watanabe's circular seal, most have no publisher seal. This may be because Watanabe marketed most of Shotei's depictions of nostalgic landscapes of 'old Japan' to the export and tourist market, while concentrating his efforts on developing a new, more modern type of printmaking through the work of other artists in his circle.

This print stands out as an exception to that rule. The date of 1915 places the production in the same year that Watanabe began to collaborate on a new type of woodblock print with the Austrian artist Fritz Capelari (1884-1950) and the Japanese artist Hashiguchi Goyo (1880-1921). The noticeably thick paper printed with an emphasis on the textures created with the baren is similar to the new experimental prints, and the large seal seems to be an indication from Watanabe that this work is a part of (or at least working towards) the new genre of shin-hanga which he was in the process of establishing.

References:
Amy Reigle Newland, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-Century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 4
Ukiyo-e Modern, Machida Shiritsu Kokusai Hanga Bijyutsukan, 2005, p. 42, no. 12
Setsuko Abe, The Publisher Watanabe Shozaburo and the Shin-hanga Movement: Its Beginnings Until the 1930s, in The Hotei Encyclopedia of Woodblock Prints, 2005, p. 295, pl. 228
Hisao Shimizu, Syotei (Hiroaki) Takahashi, 2005, p.24, pl. 87
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin-Hanga: Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, p. 21, no. 1-27
Shimizu Hisao, The Publisher Watanabe Shozaburo and the Birth of Shin-Hanga, in Kendall Brown, Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, 2014, pp. 23-24, no. 11.4

(inv. no. C-3213)

SOLD

Charles W. Bartlett

1860-1940

2nd Series. Japan: Negishi

color woodblock print, with artist's CWB monogram at lower left with title cartouche, NEGISHI.1916, signed below in ink Charles W. Bartlett with copyright mark, publisher's seal Watanabe on lower left margin.

oban tate-e 15 1/8 by 10 in., 38.5 by 25.4 cm

Alternate titles: Winter; and Negishi; Near Yokohama, Japan

Charles W. Bartlett was born in Bridport, Dorsetshire in England. In 1883, at the age of twenty-three, Bartlett applied to the Royal Academy in London, where he was accepted. Three years later he continued his training in Paris at the Académie Julian. In the 1890s Bartlett met his second wife, Catherine (Kate) Main, who not only came from a family of means, but also was a skilled woodworker and carver. With newfound financial security, Bartlett was able to concentrate on his work even more. In addition to painting in oils and watercolors, he became interested in printmaking and started producing etchings. In 1903 he became a member of the Royal West of England Academy, and in 1908 he became one of the twenty-five founding members of the Société de la Peinture à l'Eau in Paris.

Bartlett and his wife traveled to the continent frequently, and in 1913, they commenced a three-year trip around the world, reaching Japan in late 1915. Not long after his arrival, Bartlett visited the studio of the print publisher, Watanabe Shôzaburô, who probably would have been working on Fritz Capelari (1884-1950) prints at the time. Bartlett showed a selection of watercolor sketches from his travels which Watanabe proposed converting to woodblock prints, but first he had Bartlett convert the pencil-based designs to Japanese brush and ink paintings in order to facilitate the block carving process (Meech, The New Wave, pp. 46-47).

In 1916, Watanabe published a total of twenty-two Bartlett prints. He began with Indian subjects; the first six were presented in a portfolio titled 1st Series. India. This was followed by a portfolio of six Japanese subjects, titled 2nd Series. Japan.

References:
Julia Meech, Japonisme: Graphic Arts in the 20th Century, in The New Wave, 1993, pp. 46-47
Helen Merritt, Point of Contact, 1993, pp. 36-39; p.65, no. 16
Yokohama Museum of Art, Eyes Towards Asia: Ukiyo-e Artists from Abroad, 1996, p. 81, no. 93
Richard Miles, and Jennifer Saville, A Printmaker in Paradise: The Art and Life of Charles W. Bartlett, 2001, p. 117, no. 29
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin-Hanga: Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, 2009, p. 59, no. 2-23

(inv. no. C-3047)

SOLD

Ito Shinsui

1898-1972

In Spring
(Haru)

dated and signed in sumi ink at upper left, Taisho rokunen nigatsu (Taisho 6 [1917] second month), Shinsui, followed by the artist's seal Shinsui, with limited edition seal on verso partially visible, Surisatsu ippyaku mai gen no uchi, dai ... ban (100 limited edition, number..), published by Watanabe Shozaburo, February 1917

19 7/8 by 10 in., 50.5 by 25.5 cm

Ito Shinsui, born Ito Hajime, was born in the Fukagawa district of Tokyo. In 1907, due to a financial crisis in his family, he was forced to leave school at the age of nine and work at a lithography studio. He joined the drawing department of the Tokyo Printing Company in 1911, where his talent brought the attention of the department head who arranged an introduction to the artist Kaburaki Kiyokata (1878-1972), from whom he received his go (art name), Shinsui.

In 1916 Watanabe Shozaburo noticed Shinsui's painting, 'Taikyo' ('Before the Mirror', see Scholten Japanese Art, 2000, cat. no. 88) in an exhibition and offered to publish it. It was an immediate success with the edition of 100 selling out. Shinsui and Watanabe continued their collaboration, releasing one more print in 1916, followed by thirteen designs with two variants in 1917, including this print of a young beauty. In an earlier version of this design the girl wears a kimono with wide pink and rose-colored stripes accented with a dark blue collar, the background embellished with a mica. It had been over 100 years since the use of a full mica background on a full-sized woodblock print, and perhaps due to technical difficulties (most extant impressions have condition problems with the mica), Shinsui requested a new edition without mica. This second version is arguably a much more successful composition with the beauty wearing a deep red kimono juxtaposed against the swirling baren marks (baren sujizuri), a decorative element that emerged in shin-hanga highlighting the printing process that would become a hallmark of a Watanabe-directed woodblock print.

References:
Tadasu Watanabe, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, 1992, 27, no. 7 Catalogue of Collections: Prints, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, 1993, p. 31, no. 218
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin Hanga- Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, p. 178, no. 4-57
Kahn Trinh, Ito Shinsui, Rietberg Museum, 2016, p. 31, no. 4
Art Institute of Chicago, Frederick W. Gookin Collection, accession no. 1939.1590 (first version, lighter palette)

(inv. no. 10-5195)

SOLD

Ito Shinsui

1898-1972

Eight Views of Omi: Morning at Awazu
(Omi hakkei no uchi: Omi hakkei no uchi: Awazu)

titled, dated and signed at lower right, Omi hakkei no uchi Awazu, Taisho rokunen gogatsu Shinsui (Eight Views of Omi, Awazu, Taisho 6 [1917], 5th month, Shinsui), with limited edition publisher's seal on verso, Ito Shinsui ga, Omi hakkei, shusatsu nihyaku mai kagiri no uchi dai - ban (picture by Ito Shinsui, Eight Views of Omi, limited edition of 200, not numbered), and with large oval Kintei (with compliments) seal, May 1917

aiban yoko-e 8 7/8 by 12 3/8 in., 22.5 by 31.5 cm

In 1917 Shinsui and the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) embarked on a print series rooted in tradition, the landscape theme of Eight Views of Omi (Omi Hakkei), which was adapted from a classical Chinese landscape grouping, Eight Views of the Hsiao and Hsiang. The Japanese version is a collection of eight famous views of the scenic area around Lake Biwa, paired with eight poetic references: Evening Snow at Mount Hira, Night Rain at Karasaki, Autumn Moon at Ishiyama, Returning Sails at Yabase, Wild Geese Descending at Katada, Evening Bell at Miidera, and this one, Clear Breeze at Awazu. The 'Eight Views' grouping was a popular subject for numerous print series in the Edo Period (1600-1858); the annals of ukiyo-e are replete with variations, puns and parodies referencing the general framework provided by the poetic theme.

This classic series was perhaps Shinsui and Watanabe's most creative, experimental and important collaboration. While adhering to the traditional subject, the artist, carver, printer and publisher explored the possibilities of the woodblock print medium. Watanabe later explained his approach in the early stages of development of shin-hanga in an article published in 1921: "I came to realize the modern works have two shortcomings. First, they try to emulate hand-drawn brushstrokes. Second, constrained by the old traditional models, they failed to experiment with anything new." (Shimizu Hisao, p. 26)

References:
Kato Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol. 1, pl. 170
Tadasu Watanabe, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 32 pl. 11
Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-Century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collectio, 1993, no. 235
Amy Reigle Newland, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-Century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 106 no. 93
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin Hanga- Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, no. 2-28
Shimizu Hisao, The Publisher Watanabe Shozaburo and the Birth of Shin-Hanga, in Kendall Brown, ed., Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2014, pp. 23-31
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015, p. 106 cat. no. 48

(inv. no. 10-5026)

SOLD

Ito Shinsui

1898-1972

Eight Views of Omi: Evening Glow at Yabase
(Omi hakkei no uchi: Omi hakkei no uchi: Yabase)

titled, dated and signed at lower right, Omi hakkei no uchi Yabase Taisho rokunen shichigatsu Shinsui (Eight Views of Omi, Yabase, Taisho 6 [1917], 7th month, Shinsui), with publisher's limited edition seal on verso, Ito Shinsui ga, Omi hakkeiYabase, shusatsu nihyaku mai kagiri no uchi dai - ban (picture by Ito Shinsui, Eight Views of Omi, limited edition of 200, not numbered), and with large oval Kintei (with compliments) seal, ca. July 1917

aiban yoko-e 8 1/2 by 12 1/2 in., 21.6 by 31.9 cm

With this important early landscape series by Shinsui, the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) felt strongly that the woodblock medium could acheive a new type of fine art and that the artist should work collaboratively with the carvers and printers, that it was not the job of the artisans to replicate the artist's painting, but the "goal is the create works replete with creativity and rich with artistic quality, by avoiding enslavement to the hand-drawn paintng or old models." (Shimizu Hisao, p. 26)

References:
Kato, Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol. 1, pl. 172
Tadasu Watanabe, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 34, pl. 13
Nihon no hanga II (1911-1920), Chiba City Museum of Art, 2000, p. 112, pl. 223-3
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin Hanga- Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, p. 67, no. 2-32
Amy Reigle Newland, ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 107, pl. 95
Shimizu Hisao, The Publisher Watanabe Shozaburo and the Birth of Shin-Hanga, in Kendall Brown, ed., Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2014, pp. 23-31
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 107, no. 50

(inv. no. 10-5027)

SOLD

Ito Shinsui

1898-1972

Eight Views of Omi: Miidera
(Omi hakkei no uchi: Omi Hakkei no uchi: Miidera)

signed, dated and titled at upper left corner, Omi hakkei no uchi Miidera Taisho rokunen shichigatsu Shinsui (Eight Views of Omi, Miidera, Taisho 6 [1917], July, Shinsui), with limited edition publisher's seal on verso, Ito Shinsui ga, Omi hakkei, shusatsu nihyaku mai kagiri no uchi dai - ban (picture by Ito Shinsui, Eight Views of Omi, limited edition of 200, not numbered), and with large oval Kintei (with compliments) seal, 1917

aiban tate-e 12 7/8 by 9 in., 32.8 by 22.8 cm

An evening view of rain at the Miidera Temple; a bell hangs from the roof eaves at the center of the composition. Much care was given to the gradations of colors on the print, with the background rendered in two blocks of soft striations of pale blue and pale grey, and the dramatic grey to black bokashi toward the upper edge emphasizing the weight of the nocturnal storm. Rather than using light grey or mica for the rain, it is instead achieved in the negative as white lines contrasting against the darker colors of the print.

In his early collaborations with Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), Shinsui produced both landscapes and bijinga. When Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) saw the prints from this series he was inspired to become a woodblock print artist himself. After Watanabe was able to add Hasui to his circle as a landscape artist, it seems Shinsui, already recognized for his depictions of women, became more defined as a bijinga artist, and produced few subsequent landscapes until the late 1930s.

In Water and Shadow, James King references this print and asserts that Shinsui's Omi Hakkei series was the most important series the artist published, primarily for the role it played in propelling the great landscape artist Kawase Hasui (1883-1957) into printmaking as well as the development of shin-hanga in general.

References:
Kato, Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol. 1, pl. 174
Irwin J. Pachter, Kawase Hasui and His Contemporaries: The Shin Hanga (New Print) Movement in Landscape Art, Everson Museum of Art, 1986 , p. 43, pl. 13
Tadasu Watanabe, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 31, pl. 14
Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, p. 185, pl. 237
Amy Reigle Newland, ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 108, pl. 96
James King, Resounding Tones: Hasui and the Japanese Landscape Print Tradition, in Kendall Brown, ed., Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 2014, pp. 33-37, no. 11.5
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015, p. 108 cat. no. 52

(inv. no. 10-5028)

SOLD

Ito Shinsui

1898-1972

Eight Views of Omi: Ishiyamadera Temple
(Omi hakkei no uchi: Omi Hakkei no uchi Ishiyamadera)

signed, dated and titled at lower left corner, Omi hakkei no uchi Ishiyamadera Taisho rokunen junigatsu Shinsui (Eight views of Omi, Ishiyamadera, Taisho 6 [1917], December, Shinsui), with limited edition publisher's seal on verso, Ito Shinsui ga, Omi hakkei Ishiyama, shusatsu nihyaku mai kagiri no uchi dai - ban (picture by Ito Shinsui, Eight Views of Omi, limited edition of 200, not numbered), and with large oval Kintei (with compliments) seal

aiban tate-e 12 5/8 by 8 5/8 in., 32.2 by 21.8

With the exception of the first print he published with Watanabe in 1916, Before the Mirror (Taikyo), which was based on a painting, in the early years of their collaboration, Shinsui worked in the old style of print production, submitting a hanashita (preparatory drawing) or sketch which was used to make a keyblock. In the introduction to the catalogue raisonné, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, Watanabe Shozaburo's son Tadasu describes the cooperation between artist and publisher, recounting how Shinsui was eager to utilize printing techniques to bring out his design, and Watanabe's role of pushing the printers to improve the prints with their own skills (pp. 6-11).

References:
Kato, Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, 1975-76, Vol. 1, pl. 173
Tadasu Watanabe, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, 1992, pp. 6-11; p. 35 pl. 15
Amy Reigle Stephens, gen. ed., The New Wave: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 1993, p. 185, pl. 238
Amy Reigle Newland, ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 108 pl. 97
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015, p. 108 cat. no. 53

(inv. no. 10-5029)

SOLD

Ikeda Terukata

1883-1921

Comparison of New Ukiyo-e Beauties: January, Playing Cards
(Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase: Ichigatsu, Karuta)

the series title on the upper left margin, Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase, followed by the print title,Ichigatsu, Karuta, with artist seal Terukata, ca. 1918

dai oban tate-e 16 1/8 by 10 3/8 in., 40.9 by 26.5 cm

This series represents a new mode of woodblock print production in which the artists act as their own publisher, perhaps with patron support, in this case pooling their resources as well as their designs. Eleven artists contributed twelve designs corresponding to the twelve months. The prints were produced striving to replicate the painterly affects of completed paintings rather than the traditional hanmoto (publisher) method utilizing black outline sumi ink drawings created expressly for print designs. Some of the original paintings are known to have survived, seven of which are currently in the collection of Darrel C. Karl, and compare remarkably closely with the prints.

This collaborative series has previously been recorded as published by Murakami, an otherwise unknown publisher, and dated to 1924. However, an impression of this design is included in a set of twelve prints from the series found in the collection of the National Diet Library, Tokyo, which is dated to 1918. In addition, a slip of paper attached to an impression of another print from the series, May, Early Summer Rain, by the female artist Nakayama Shuko (b. 1876), credits the Publication Society of Shin Ukiyo-e Bijin Awase, which may have been run by a Mr. Murakami. At least four artists who contributed to the 1918 set also designed five additional prints representing April, May, July, August and November. The duplicated months not included in the 1918 set may have been published in circa 1924, the date previously assigned to this series.

References:
Amy Reigle Newland and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 104, no, 135
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th-century Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 208 (regarding series dating)

(inv. no. 10-5321)

$1,600

Yamamura Koka (Toyonari)

1885-1942

Comparison of New Ukiyo-e Beauties: February, Winter Sky
(Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase: Nigatsu, Samuzora)

light mica over printed grey ground; signed at right, Koka ga, the series title in the pink cartouche at the upper right corner, Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase, followed by the print title, Ni-gatsu, Samuzora, published in 1918

dai oban tate-e 17 1/8 by 11 3/8 in., 43.5 by 29 cm

The series title of this print, Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase, and the print title specifying one of the twelve months, links this composition to a collaborative series which had previously been dated to circa 1924 and credited as published by Murakami, however, recent scholarship identifes the publisher as the Publication Society of Shin Ukiyo-e Bijin Awase. The series represents a new mode of woodblock print production in which the artists act as their own publisher, perhaps with patron support, in this case pooling their resources as well as their designs. Eleven artists contributed the twelve designs corresponding to the twelve months. The prints were produced striving to replicate the painterly affects of completed paintings rather than the traditional hanmoto (publisher) method utilizing black outline sumi ink drawings created expressly for print designs and then used to carve keyblocks and pull proofs which were hand-colored and annotated for the producing color blocks. Some of the original paintings are known to have survived, seven of which are currently in the collection of Darrel C. Karl, and compare remarkably closely with the prints.

The use of mica in large areas such as the background was a technical obstacle that modern printers were just beginning to unravel around the same time this print was created. Although stylistically this design is quite different than the other contributions to the series and the larger title cartouches are placed within the composition instead of on the margin, an impression of this design is included in a set of twelve prints from the series found in the collection of the National Diet Library, Tokyo, which is dated to 1918. At least four artists who contributed to the set dated to 1918 also designed five additional prints which have been dated to circa 1924, representing April, May, July, August and November.

References:
Kato Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, vol. I, pl. 148
Amy Reigle Newland, and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 90, no. 114
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 208 (regarding publication date)

(inv. no. C-3253)

SOLD

Kondo Shiun

dates unknown

Comparison of New Ukiyo-e Beauties: June, Irises
(Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase: Rokugatsu, Shobu)

signed Shiun with artist's fan-shaped seal, Kondo; the series title in the first cartouche on the upper right margin, Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase, the print title in the next cartouche, Rokugatsu, Shobu, followed by the artist's name, Kondo Shiun gahaku hitsu; published by the Society of Shin Ukiyo-e Bijin Awase, ca. 1918

dai oban tate-e 17 1/2 by 11 1/8 in., 44.4 by 28.4 cm

This print is from a collaborative series which had previously been dated to circa 1924 and credited as published by Murakami, however, an impression of this design is included in a set of twelve prints from the series found in the collection of the National Diet Library, Tokyo, which is dated to 1918, and slip of paper attached to an impression of another print from the series, May, Early Summer Rain, by Nakayama Shuko (b. 1876), credits the Publication Society of Shin Ukiyo-e Bijin Awase, which may have been run by a Mr. Murakami. At least four artists who contributed to the 1918 set also designed five additional prints which have been dated to circa 1924, representing April, May, July, August and November.

The series represents a new mode of woodblock print production in which the artists act as their own publisher, perhaps with patron support, in this case pooling their resources as well as their designs. Eleven artists contributed the twelve designs corresponding to the twelve months. The prints were produced striving to replicate the painterly affects of completed paintings rather than the traditional hanmoto (publisher) method utilizing black outline sumi ink drawings created expressly for print designs and then used to carve keyblocks and pull proofs which were hand-colored and annotated for the producing color blocks. Some of the original paintings are known to have survived, seven of which are currently in the collection of Darrel C. Karl, and compare remarkably closely with the prints, including the painting by Shiun related to the November design from the 1924 group, titled First Snow (Hatsuyuki).

References:
Amy Reigle Newland, and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 100, no. 129
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 208 (regarding publication date)

(inv. no. C-3202)

SOLD

Igawa Sengai

1876-1961

Comparison of New Ukiyo-e Beauties: August, Moon
(Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase: Hachigatsu, Tsuki)

embellished with silver mica on the moon, signed at lower right, Sengai, with two artist's seals, Sengai and Tsune, the series title cartouche at upper right, Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase, followed by the print title, Hachigatsu, Tsuki, and the artist's name, Igawa Sengai Gahaku hitsu, published by the Publication Society of Shin Ukiyo-e Bijin Awase, ca. 1918

dai oban tate-e 16 1/8 by 10 3/8 in., 41.1 by 26.2 cm

This series represents a new mode of woodblock print production in which the artists act as their own publisher, perhaps with patron support, in this case pooling their resources as well as their designs. Eleven artists contributed twelve designs corresponding to the twelve months. The prints were produced striving to replicate the painterly affects of completed paintings rather than the traditional hanmoto (publisher) method utilizing black outline sumi ink drawings created expressly for print designs and then used to carve keyblocks and pull proofs which were hand-colored and annotated for the producing color blocks. Some of the original paintings are known to have survived, seven of which, including the painting related to this print, are currently in the collection of Darrel C. Karl, and compare remarkably closely with the prints.

This collaborative series has previously been recorded as published by Murakami, an otherwise unknown publisher, and dated to 1924. However, an impression of this design is included in a set of twelve prints from the series found in the collection of the National Diet Library, Tokyo, which is dated to 1918. In addition, a slip of paper attached to an impression of another print from the series, May, Early Summer Rain, by the female artist Nakayama Shuko (b. 1876), credits the Publication Society of Shin Ukiyo-e Bijin Awase, which may have been run by a Mr. Murakami. At least four artists (including Sengai) who contributed to the 1918 set also designed five additional prints representing April, May, July, August and November. The duplicated months not included in the 1918 set may have been published in circa 1924, the date previously assigned to this series.

References:
Amy Reigle Newland and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 101, no. 131
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th-century Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 208 (regarding series dating) Minneapolis Institute of Arts,accession no. 2002.161.149.1

(inv. no. 10-5322)

SOLD

Kamoshita Choko

1890-1967

Comparison of New Ukiyo-e Beauties : September, Tipsy
(Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase: Kyugatsu, Horoyoi)

embellished with mica on her collar, signed with artist's seal in lower right corner, Choko ga saku, the series title cartouche at upper right, Shin ukiyo-e bijin awase, followed by the print title, Kyugatsu- Horoyoi, and the artist's name, Kamoshita Choko gahauku hitsu, published the Publication Society of Shin Ukiyo-e Bijin Awase, ca. 1918

dai oban tate-e 17 3/8 by 11 1/8 in., 44 by 28.2 cm

This series is usually identified as published by Murakami, an otherwise unknown publisher, and dated to 1924. Recent scholarship has adjusts the dating of at least a portion of the series, including this design, to 1918. A slip of paper attached to an impression of another print from the series, May, Early Summer Rain, by Nakayama Shuko (b. 1876), credits the Publication Society of Shin Ukiyo-e Bijin Awase, which may have been run by a Mr. Murakami. The series represents a new mode of woodblock print production in which the artists (likely with support from patrons) act as their own publisher, and the prints were produced striving to replicate the painterly affects of completed paintings rather than the traditional hanmoto (publisher) method utilizing sumi ink drawings. Some of the original paintings are known to have survived, seven of which are currently in the collection of Darrel C. Karl, and compare remarkably closely with the prints.

While most of the prints in this series are in the same romanticized style seen in kuchi-e and limited bijinga series designed by the circle of artists originating from the atelier of Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908) in the late Meiji Period (1868-1912), the highly stylized contributions by Yamamura Koka (1885-1942, February, Wintry Sky), and this design by Kamoshita Choko, comprised of large flat areas of color define by rounded lines, display the influence of art nouveau (that is, the reverse of Japonsime) on modern Japanese artists.

References:
Amy Reigle Newland and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, 2000, p. 102, no. 132
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th-century Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 208 (regarding series dating)

(inv. no. C-3254)

$2,000

Ito Shinsui

1898-1972

Eight Views of Omi: Pines at Karasaki
(Omi hakkei no uchi: Omi hakkei no uchi: Karasaki no matsu)

dated and titled at lower left corner, Omi hakkei no uchi Karasaki Taisho nananen gogatsu Shinsui (Eight Views of Omi, Karasaki, Taisho 7 [1918], May, Shinsui), with limited edition publisher's seal on verso, Ito Shinsui ga, Omi hakkei, shusatsu nihyaku mai kagiri no uchi dai - ban (picture by Ito Shinsui, Eight Views of Omi, limited edition of 200, not numbered), and with large oval Kintei (with compliments) seal, 1918

aiban tate-e 12 5/8 by 8 3/4 in., 32.2 by 22.2 cm

Although the theme of the landscape series, Eight Views of Omi, is traditional, some of the compositions, such as this one, are abstract. The rich textures and unusual coloration suggest a creative and close collaboration of artist, publisher, carvers, and printers. In fact, Shinsui's prints from 1917-1921 were exhibited by Watanabe accompanied by a pamphlet titled 'Ito Shinsui sosaku-hanga' (Ito Shinsui's Creative Prints), demonstrating that the term sosaku-hanga was not necessarily defined in contrast to shin-hanga as we have come to use it today.

References:
Kato, Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, 1975-76, Vol. 1, pl. 176
Tadasu Watanabe, Ito Shinsui: All the Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 38 pl. 17
Amy Reigle Newland, ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 111 pl. 100
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015, p. 109 cat. no. 54

(inv. no. 10-5031)

SOLD

Kawase Hasui

1883-1957

Souvenirs of Travels, First Series: Matsushima Seen from Katsura Island
(Tabi miyage dai isshu: Katsurashima matsushima)

dated and signed at lower left, Taisho hachi, natsu (Taisho 8 [1919], summer) with artist's pre-earthquake seal Hasui, the title on the left margin and publisher's circular seal Watanabe (Watanabe Shozaburo) at lower right, 1919

10 1/4 by 15 in., 26 by 38.2 cm

One of the aspects of Hasui's landscapes that sets him apart from other print artists was his interest in composing unfamiliar views of familiar locations. Matsushima is a group of 260 small islands (shima) covered with pines (matsu) located off the coast of Miyagi prefecture. Long considered one of the three most scenic areas of Japan (the other two are Amanohashidate and Itsukushima), prints depicting famous views (meisho) of the Matsushima usually feature one or more of the rocky islands from various idyllic angles. Hasui, ever the compositional contrarian, approached the subject from a different vantage point, choosing to illustrate a view set back away from the shore from within a grove of pines on Katsura island, with other islands in the archipelago dotting the blue water in the distance.

Hasui's interest in the cluster of tree trunks with knotty roots recalls Ito Shinsui's (1898-1972) abstract composition of the trunk and gnarled branches of the ancient pine at Karasaki featured in his series Eight Views of Omi (Omi Hakkei) published by Watanabe in 1918 and exhibited in the fourth Kyodokai exhibition in 1918 where it was seen by Hasui and inspired him to endeavor to become a print artist himself.

References:
Narazaki Muneshige, Kawase Hasui mokuhanga shu, 1979, p. 16, no. 15
Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, 2003, p. 288, no. 15
Shimada City Museum, Kawase Hasui, The Landscape Woodblock Prints of the Taisho and Showa Periods, 2005, p. 26, no. 15
Kawase Hasui Woodblock Prints, Abe Publishing, 2009, p. 14, no. 9
Chiba City Museum of Art, Kawase Hasui, NHK Service Center, 2013, p. 27, no. 14
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 113, no. 48
Kendall H. Brown, Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, 2014, #IV.15
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession no. 69.1219

(inv. no. C-3111)

SOLD

Kawase Hasui

1883-1957

Twelve Scenes of Tokyo: Early Summer Showers at Sanno Shrine
(Tokyo Junikkei: Tokyo junidai: Samidare furu Sanno)

dated and signed, Taisho hachi (Taisho 8 [1919]) Hasui, with artist's seal, Hasui, the series title on the left, Tokyo junidai, followed by the print title, Samidare furu Sanno, and round Watanabe publisher's seal at right, 1919

oban tate-e 15 1/8 by 10 3/8 in., 38.5 by 26.2 cm

This composition is an unusual example where Watanabe used mica to render the streaks of rain. While mica was a favorite embellishment of many shin hanga artists and publishers, Watanabe employed it rather sparingly. Perhaps he was more interested in exploring the textural effects of the woodblock printing process such as utilizing baren suji-zuri (baren swirls) and goma zuri (sesame seed printing) which would become hallmarks of a Watanabe-produced woodblock print.

References:
Kato Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol. I, pl. 195
Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The complete woodblock prints, 2003, p. 293, no. 26
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 102, cat. 30
(inv. no. C-1911)

SOLD

Kawase Hasui

1883-1957

Souvenirs of Travels, First Series: A Boat Laden with Stones, Boshu
(Tabi miyage dai isshu: Ishizumu fune, Boshu)

signed and dated Taisho kyu natsu (Taisho 9 [1920], summer), Hasui, with artist's (pre-earthquake) seal Hasui, with series title cartouche Tabi miyage dai isshu, followed by the print title, Ishizumu fune (Boshu), and Watanabe publisher's seal in lower right corner, 1920

oban tate-e 15 1/4 by 10 3/8 in., 38.6 by 26.2 cm

After publishing his first three trial prints in 1918 with Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), Hasui quickly established a travel regimen to produce sketches that could be worked up into compositions suitable for the woodblock print format. In 1919 he embarked on what would become an annual sketch tour, visiting northern Japan, including Sendai, Hachinohe, Lake Towada, Aomori and Shiobara. The northern tour provided the subjects for the first six prints in a new series, Souvenirs of Travels, First Series, which was launched in 1919 by Watanabe who also began publishing a series of local views, Twelve Scenes of Tokyo in the same year. Hasui spent the following summer near Tokyo on the Boshu Peninsula in Chiba Prefecture, which he illustrated in two more designs, including this print, for the Souvenirs of Travel series published in 1920.

The Souvenirs of Travel series included sixteen designs published between 1919 and 1920. Depicting illustrations of views from around the country, the series was similar in concept to the sketch-tour books which flourished from 1905 until 1920 but expanded on the theme by elevating the works into single-sheet woodblock prints. Many shin-hanga artists participated in sketch-tour publications, but the book format was ultimately supplanted by the shin-hanga movement.

References:
Narazaki Muneshige, Kawase Hasui mokuhanga shu, 1979, p. 16, no. 17
Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, 2003, p. 289, no. 17
Shimada City Museum, Kawase Hasui, The Landscape Woodblock Prints of the Taisho and Showa Periods, 2005, p. 27, no. 17
Kawase Hasui Woodblock Prints, Abe Publishing, 2009, p. 14, no. 10
Chiba City Museum of Art, Kawase Hasui, NHK Service Center, 2013, p. 28, no. 16
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 110, no. 43
Kendall H. Brown, Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, 2014, p. 74, IV.17

(inv. no. 10-5412)

SOLD

Kawase Hasui

1883-1957

Pictures of the Mitsubishi Fukagawa Villa: Small Boat in Spring Shower
(Mitsubishi Fukagawa bettei no zu: Harusame no kobune)

signed Hasui with artist's square seal Hasui; publisher's seal Watanabe, dated Taisho kyu (Taisho 9 [1920])

7 1/2 by 18 7/8 in., 19 by 48 cm

The Iwasaki family (owners of Mitsubishi) initially approached the artist Kaburagi Kiyokata (1878-1973) regarding a commission to design a group of prints illustrating their beautiful villa located at Fukagawa in eastern Tokyo, with the intention of giving the prints to domestic and foreign clients. As Kiyokata was primarily a figural artist, he recommended his student Hasui, who had begun to publish landscape prints with Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) in the autumn of 1918. The resulting group of eight works were produced on commission by Watanabe, all dated 1920 but published without a series or print title. As such, individual designs are known by various descriptive titles.

Although prints from the series presumably would not have been in Watanabe's inventory at the time of the Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1, 1923, and thus not necessarily subject to the same destruction by fire as the rest of the Hasui prints in storage, extant impressions from the Iwasaki series are nevertheless quite scarce.

References:
Narazaki Muneshige, Kawase Hasui mokuhanga shu, 1979, p. 29, no. 49
Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, 2003, p. 304, no. 49
Kendall H. Brown, Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, 2014, p. 105, no. IV.48

(inv. no. 10-5427)

SOLD

Kawase Hasui

1883-1957

Pictures of the Mitsubishi Fukagawa Villa: Pond-side Rest House with Pines
(Mitsubishi Fukagawa bettei no zu: Matsu no chihan no ryotei)

signed Hasui with artist's square seal Hasui, publisher's seal Watanabe, dated Taisho kyu (Taisho 9 [1920])

7 3/8 by 18 7/8 in., 18.8 by 47.8 cm

The Iwasaki family (owners of Mitsubishi) initially approached the artist Kaburagi Kiyokata (1878-1973) regarding a commission to design a group of prints illustrating their beautiful villa located at Fukagawa in eastern Tokyo, with the intention of giving the prints to domestic and foreign clients. As Kiyokata was primarily a figural artist, he recommended his student Hasui, who had begun to publish landscape prints with Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) in the autumn of 1918. The resulting group of eight works were produced on commission by Watanabe, all dated 1920 but published without a series or print title. As such, individual designs are known by various descriptive titles.

Although prints from the series presumably would not have been in Watanabe's inventory at the time of the Great Kanto Earthquake on September 1, 1923, and thus not necessarily subject to the same destruction by fire as the rest of the Hasui prints in storage, extant impressions from the Iwasaki series are nevertheless quite scarce.

References:
Narazaki Muneshige, Kawase Hasui mokuhanga shu, 1979, p. 29, no. 50
Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, 2003, p. 305, no. 50
Hisao Shimizu, Hasui Kawase, Folk Museum of Ota City, 2006, p. 25, no. 12
Hisao Shimizu, Kawase Hasui, Folk Museum of Ota City, 2013, p. 32, no. 16
Kendall H. Brown, Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, 2014, p. 106, no. IV49

(inv. no. 10-5426)

SOLD

Kawase Hasui

1883-1957

Souvenirs of Travel, Second Series: A Water Conduit, A Scene in Sado
(Tabi miyage dainishu: Mizuagehi, Sado shoken)

with karazuri (blind-printing) in the area of the white clouds; signed Hasui with artist's pre-earthquake seal Kawase, the print title on the left margin, Mizuagehi (Sado shoken), followed by the date Taisho ju, hachi, nijuichi (Taisho 10 [1921], August 21), with round Watanabe publisher seal at lower left, and red collector's seal at lower right, Mei (or Min)- ?, ca. 1921

dai oban tate-e 15 3/8 by 10 3/8 in., 39 by 26.2 cm

This scene of a man pumping water to irrigate his crops was from one of Hasui's visits to Sado island located in the Sea of Japan approximately 13.5 miles (22 kilometers) from Nigata prefecture. The island is comprised of two parallel mountain ranges, the Osado and the Kosado with a large plain between them. Traditionally, the remote island was a place of exile, former Emperors, poets, and the Buddhist monk Nichiren were all banished to Sado, considered the most severe punishment short of execution.

In August of 1921 Watanabe published six prints illustrating scenes from Sado, where Hasui likely visited as part of his sketching tour to the Hokuriku region in the autumn of the previous year. In the same spirit as the artists who participated in the sketch-tour book movement from 1905-1920, traveling was an essential part of Hasui's process. But unlike most ukiyo-e landscape series of earlier generations, both Hasui (and Watanabe) felt strongly that images should not be based on guidebooks, picture albums, or an artist's imagination, but from actually visiting the location. And while he frequently depicted meisho (famous views) that would have appealed to a wide audience (especially foreigners), they were rarely composed as familiar views, more often approaching subjects from unusual vantage points and including less idealized details to capture a more truthful and human aspect of a place.

Narazaki quoted Hasui on his commitment to depicting authentic views:

"Once I began creating prints, I anticipated their creation and I picked places to sketch that didn't require that I omit a single tree or a blade of grass to create a picture. Over time, the landscape that I saw before me came to look like a print." (Koyama Shuko, Water and Shadow, p. 43)

References:
Narazaki Muneshige, Kawase Hasui mokuhanga shu, 1979, p. 36, no. 70
Kendall H. Brown, Kawase Hasui: The Complete Woodblock Prints, 2003, cat. no. 70
Carolyn M. Putney, Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, 2013, cat. no. 61
Koyama Shuko, Kawase Hasui's Travels and Travel Scenes: An Investigation from the Viewpoint of Taisho-Era Tourism, in Kendall Brown, Water and Shadow: Kawase Hasui and Japanese Landscape Prints, 2014, pp. 39-47, illustrated p. 38 (detail); p. 126, no. IV69
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th-Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015, cat. no. 121

(inv. no. 10-4556)

SOLD

Hashiguchi Goyo

1880-1921

Evening Moon at Kobe, numbered '1'
(Kobe no yoizuki)

dated Taisho kyunen ichigatsu (Taisho 9 [1920], January), followed by dark red title cartouche Kobe no yoizuki and signed Goyo ga with artist's double 'O' circular GY (Goyo) seal, with limited edition seal numbered '1' on bottom right margin; self-published ca. January 1920

11 7/8 by 18 3/4 in., 30.2 by 47.5 cm

Hashiguchi Goyo studied the Kano school style of painting as a child before he became a pupil of the Nihonga (Japanese style) painter Hashimoto Gaho (1835-1908) in 1899, and then the yoga (Western style) painter Kuroda Seiki (1866-1924) only two years later in 1901. In 1905 he was one of the top graduates in the yoga department at the Tokyo Bijutsu Gakko (Tokyo School of Fine Arts). He was a very prolific illustrator of magazines, novels, and posters while he continued to exhibit his paintings.

An enthusiastic student and collector of ukiyo-e, Goyo published articles on woodblock printing, including monographs on the artists Utamaro (1753-1806), Hiroshige (1797-1858), and Harunobu (ca. 1724-70). He wrote the explanatory section for a publication on Hiroshige's Edo kinko hakkei, and he supervised the production of Ukiyo fuzoku ya Yamato nishiki-e (1916-17), a massive set of 12 volumes with approximately 240 facsimile reproduction prints of highlights from traditional ukiyo-e. His involvement with these publications surely further deepened his understanding of the techniques employed by the artists and printers of the golden era.

In 1915 he published his first print with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo, a collaboration which apparently was not satisfying for Goyo, as he published all of his subsequent prints independently, hiring and supervising block carvers and printers in a studio he established in his home. His affinity with ukiyo-e evident; the lavish mica background on bijin prints are reminiscent of Utamaro's okubi-e; and his few landscapes, such as this one, all employ compositions and palettes similar to the best of Hiroshige's atmospheric works.

References:
Kato Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol. I, pl. 99
Amy Reigle Newland, gen. ed., Printed to Perfection: Twentieth-century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, 2004, p. 65, no. 44
Ukiyo-e Modern, Machida Shiritsu Kokusai Hanga Bijyutsukan, 2005, p. 56, no. 142
Amand T. Zehnder, Modern Japanese Prints: The Twentieth Century, Carnegie Museum of Art, 2009, p. 36
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 77, cat. 1
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 41, cat. no. 3

(inv. no. C-3219)

SOLD

Hashiguchi Goyo

1880-1921

Great Bridge at Sanjo, Kyoto, numbered '1'
(Kyoto Sanjo Ohashi)

a night view of the Great Sanjo Bridge in the snow; the print title in red vertical cartouche, Kyoto Sanjo Ohashi; signed and dated Taisho kyunen ichigatsu Goyo ga (Taisho 9 [1920], January, by Goyo) with artist's seal Go with leaf design (Yo), with limited edition seal numbered '1' on verso, published by the artist ca. 1920

11 1/2 by 18 7/8 in., 29.2 by 48 cm

Goyo only completed 13 woodblock prints in his lifetime (excluding prints designed for books and magazines) prior to his untimely death in February 1921 from complications from meningitis and a middle ear infection. Goyo's brother, Mitsugo, and nephew, Yasuo, oversaw the posthumous publication of a dozen additional designs. Goyo's work was ground-breaking for shin-hanga, and included some of the best examples to be found in the entire genre of ukiyo-e.

References:
Kato Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol I, pl. 102
Amanda T. Zehnder, Modern Japanese Prints: The Twentieth Century, Carnegie Museum of Art, 2009, p. 35
Kendall Brown and Hollis Goodall-Cristante, Shin-Hanga: New Prints in Modern Japan, 1993, p. 76, fig. 100
Carolyn M. Putney, et. al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 2013, p. 78, cat. 2
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 42, cat. no. 4

(inv. no. C-3218)

SOLD

Oda Kazuma

1881-1956

Fireworks in Osaka (lithograph)

signed and dated, Kazuma Oda 1920

12 7/8 by 18 7/8 in., 32.7 by 48 cm

In the early years of revitalization of Japanese woodblock printmaking, many artists drifted back and forth between the differing approaches of sosaku-hanga (creative prints) and shin-hanga (new prints). While the sosaku-hanga philosphy celebrates the artist as creator, self-carving and self-printing their works; the shin-hanga movement embraces collaboration with professionals, taking advantage of the technical acumen and creative insight of master carvers and printers working with the guidance (and financial resources) of professional publishers. Oda Kazuma was one of the few artists who was able to produce notable works by both means; that is, with a publisher or independently. Although he produced a small series of six shin-hanga style woodblock prints, Scenes of San'in (San'in fukei), with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962) in 1924, the vast majority of his oeuvre was in the medium of self-printed lithography and issued in very small editions (often 20, sometimes 50 impressions).

Kazuma was a contributor to Hosun ca. 1908-11, an 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. He 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 exhibtion at the Toledo Musuem of Art in 1930 (exhibiting the six woodblock prints produced by Watanabe). In 1953 he established the Oda Lithography Studio (Oda Sekihanjutsu Kenkyujo).

References:
Helen Merritt, Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, 1990, p. 62
Helen Merrit, Guide to Modern Japanese Woodblock Prints, 1992, p. 114
Oda Kazuma Ten: Meiji - Taisho - Showa, Utsuriyuku Fuukei (Oda Kazuma Exhibition: Meiji - Taisho Showa, Changing Scenery), 2000, p. 81, no. 86
John Fiorillo, Viewing Japanese Prints: Oda Kazuma (viewingjapaneseprints.net)

(inv. no. C-3223)

SOLD

Yamamura Koka (Toyonari)

1885-1942

Flowers of the Theatrical World: Actor Matsumoto Koshiro VII as Sukeroku
(Rien no Hana: Matsumoto Koshiro no Sukeroku)

with white mica background; signed at right Toyonari ga, with circular date seal, Tai kyu (Taisho 9 [1920]), archaic seal Mori at lower left corner, self-published with the support of the Yamamura Koka Hanga Kankokai (Publication Society of Yamamura Koka's prints), 1920

dai oban tate-e 16 1/8 by 11 5/8 in., 41 by 29.5 cm

This print is from Toyonari's untitled self-published series popularly known as Flowers of the Theatrical World (Rien no hana). After producing four kabuki actor portraits with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), the first appearing in 1916 and the last in 1919, a group of collectors formed the Publication Society of Yamamura Koka's Prints which enabled the artist to issue the series of twelve prints from 1920-1921, the first prints he would produce bearing his go (artist name) Toyonari. All of the prints illustrate actors in character presented dramatically against a solid background. Eight are embellished with mica which visually references coveted mica ground 'big head' portraits by golden-age ukiyo-e artists such as Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825) and Toshusai Sharaku (active 1794-1795).

The actor Matsumoto Koshiro VII (1870-1949) is in the role of Hanakawa Sukeroku, an otokodate (chivalrous commoner) from the play Sukeroku yukari no Edo zakura (Sukeroku, the flower of Edo). Although set in the Yoshiwara, the trials of Sukeroku are modeled after the story of one of the Soga brothers (Soga no Goro) a popular theme revisited in numerous kabuki interpretations. The play Sukeroku is one of the Kabuki Juhachiban ('Eighteen Kabuki Plays') compiled by Ichikawa Danjuro VII in 1840 as favorites for the family repertoire. The Sukeroku role is identified by the lavender or purple towel tied around his head, which symbolizes his love-sickness for the beautiful courtesan Agemaki. The flower (probably peony) crest on the dark kimono is also typical for the role.

Matsumoto Koshiro VII was extensively recognized as the greatest kabuki star of his generation. From the age of eleven, he was trained by Ichikawa Danjuro IX, one of the most important kabuki actors of the Meiji Period (1868-1912) who is credited, in part, with revitalizing and redefining the theater for the modern era. Ichikawa Danjuro IX recognized Koshiro VII's potential during his first performance in the drama Moritsuna Jinya as the character Koshiro in 1881. He soon became an acclaimed actor and in 1911 he joined the newly established Imperial Theater, then the Schochiku Theater in 1929. One of his sons became Ichikawa Danjuro XI (1909-1965).

References:
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2015, p. 64 (large detail), p. 74, no.30
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin Hanga- Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, p. 73, no. 2-40

(inv. no. 10-5033)

SOLD

Yamamura Koka (Toyonari)

1885-1942

Flowers of the Theatrical World: Nakamura Utaemon V as Owasa
(Rien no Hana: Nakamura Utaemon V)

with pale grey-blue background embellished with light silver mica; signed at right, Toyonari ga with oval date seal Taisho ju (Taisho 9 [1921]), with rectangular artist's approval seal Toyonari on lower left margin, self-published with the support of the Yamamura Koka Hanga Kankokai (Publication Society of Yamamura Koka's prints), 1921

dai oban tate-e 16 1/4 by 11 3/8 in., 41.2 by 28.9 cm

The artist Yamamura Koka was particularly well-suited for the subject of actor prints as he was himself an enthusiast of the theatrical arts of the time. Koka collected ukiyo-e prints and in 1919 he published Shibai nishiki-e shusei (Compendium of Theatrical Woodblock Prints). He understood the significance of the plays and the histories and talents of the various actors.

This print is from the untitled self-published series popularly known as Flowers of the Theatrical World (Rien no hana). After producing four kabuki actor portraits with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo (1885-1962), the first appearing in 1916 and the last in 1919, a group of collectors formed the Publication Society of Yamamura Koka's Prints which enabled the artist to issue the series of twelve prints from 1920-1921, the first prints he would produce bearing his go (artist name) Toyonari. All of the prints illustrate actors in character presented dramatically against a solid background. Eight are embellished with mica which visually references coveted mica ground 'big head' portraits by golden-age ukiyo-e artists such as Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825) and Toshusai Sharaku (active 1794-1795).

The clue to identifying the role is the piece of red fabric in the foreground. The character is Owasa from the play Gosho Zakura Horikawa no Youchi (Imperial Palace Cherry Blossoms and Horikawa Night Attack) a maruhonmono (drama originally based on puppet theater). In this scene, popularly known as the Benkei Joshi scene, Shinobu, a lady-in-waiting, is asked to give up her life in place of Yoshitsune's wife, Kyonokimi. Shinobu is surprised but agrees to submit as a loyal retainer. Her mother, Owasa, refuses to accept it and explains that her daughter has never met her father. In fact, even Owasa herself doesn't know his name or what he looks like- all she has is a red sleeve her one time lover left behind. She shows the sleeve that she has kept with her always as a memento of the one night they were together. Owasa is unable to sway the attackers, and the final blow comes from a sword through a fusuma panel. Benkei emerges from behind the panel holding a bloody sword and pulls a matching red sleeve from beneath his kimono. He was Owasa's lover, and he has just murdered his own daughter.

References:
Dorothy Blair, Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930, no. 203
Carolyn M. Putney, et al., Fresh Impressions: Early Modern Japanese Prints, 2013, p. 233, cat. 210 (edition of 150)
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015, pp. 64-73, and Yamamura Koka (Toyonari) Exhibition History, p. 211

(inv. no. 10-2740)

$1,800

Yamamura Koka (Toyonari)

1885-1942

Flowers of the Theatrical World: Actor Ichikawa Ennosuke II as Hayami no Tota
(Rien no Hana: Ichikawa Ennosuke II, Hayami no Tota)

with silver mica ground, signed Toyonari ga, with circular date seal, Tai ju (Taisho 10 [1921]), self-published with the support of the Yamamura Koka Hanga Kankokai (Publication Society of Yamamura Koka's prints), 1921

dai oban tate-e 16 5/8 by 11 1/4 in., 42.2 by 28.5 cm

Among the prints from the untitled pre-earthquake series popularly known as Flowers of the Theatrical World (Rien no Hana), this stands out as displaying a remarkable abundance of mica embellishments. In addition to silver mica applied over the rust-red background, the actor's costume is highlighted with brass-colored metallic printing on the embroidery and wide stripes of pale blue mica on the alternating stripes of his vest.

The actor Ichikawa Ennosuke II (Ichikawa En'o I, 1888-1963) is in the role of Hayami Tota from the play Yoshitsune Sembon Zakura (Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees). The play is set in 1185, following the decisive battle of Dannoura between the Minamoto and Taira clans in which the general Taira no Yoshitsune engineered total victory for his family. Soon after the victory, however, Yoshitsune finds himself in a rivalry with his brother, Yoritomo. Hayami Tota is a follower of Yoritomo's whose attempt to capture Yoshitsune's mistress was foiled by Yoshitsune's faithful retainer, Sato Tadanobu.

References:
Dorothy Blair, Modern Japanese Prints, Toledo Museum of Art, 1930, no. 204
Arendie and Henk Herwig, Heroes of the Kabuki Stage, 2004, pp. 166-177
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th Century Japanese Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Art, 2015, 64-73, and Yamamura Koka (Toyonari) Exhibition History, p. 209

(inv. no. 10-1595)

$2,400

Yamamura Koka (Toyonari)

1885-1942

Flowers of the Theatrical World: Actor Morita Kan'ya XIII as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables
(Rien no Hana: Jusan sei Morita Kanya no Jan Berujan)

signed at right, Toyonari ga with round date seal Taisho ju (Taisho 10 [1921]), with rectangular artist's approval seal Toyonari on lower left margin, published by Watanabe Shozaburo, 1921

dai oban tate-e 16 1/2 by 11 3/8 in., 41.9 by 29 cm

The actor Morita Kan'ya XIII (1885-1932) is in the role of Jean Valjean from the play Les Miserables performed at the Yuraku-za Theater in December 1920. The theater opened in 1908 and was Japan's first Western-style theater with upright chairs instead of zashiki (tatami seating). The drama, based on the epic novel (one of the longest ever written) of the same name by Victor Hugo (1802-1885) which recounts the struggles and redemption of the former convict Jean Valjean, seems uniquely suited for adaption to kabuki. Kan'ya was a versitle actor known for his efforts to develop new dramas, and for his great voice, an attribute closely associated with the role of Jean Valjean in any era.

Toyonari developed his remarkable actor portraits based on bromides (buromaido) photographs of the actors in character that were sold to fans at the performances. A bromide of Kan'ya in the role of Jean Valjean showed the full figure of the actor standing in profile at a moment when he is overcome with conflicting emotions; he holds a silver candlestick which he was accused of stealing but has now been gifted to him. The lighting in the photograph is a visual metaphor of Jean Valjean's transformation: he is turned away from the dark shadows behind him, and faces the bright light before him. The woodblock print by Toyonari captures the dramatic moment, highlighting the dark background and shadows cast by the light onto the actor's face, while faithfully rendering the grimacing teeth, furrowed brow and hunched shoulders of Kan'ya. The saturated baren sujizuri (swirls) printing in the background deepens shadows creeping on to the actor's shoulders.

References:
Kato Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol. 1, pls. 142
Koyama Shuko, Beautiful Shin Hanga- Revitalization of Ukiyo-e, Tokyo Metropolitan Edo-Tokyo Museum, 2009, p. 74, no. 2-42
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th-Century Japanese Prints from the Wells Collection, 2015 p. 5 frontispiece detail; p. 69: and p. 76, no. 32 and 32a (photo of the actor)
Minneapolis Institute of Art (collections.artsmia.org), accession no. 2002.161.53

(inv. no. 10-5189)

$6,500

1923 Before and After Part 2 →