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, with watermark, Nihon Hanga in the lower left corner, published by Society of Shin Ukiyo-e Bijin Awase, ca. 1918

dai oban tate-e 17 1/4 by 11 1/4 in., 43.9 by 28.5 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.

Reference:
Andreas Marks, Seven Masters: 20th-century Woodblock Prints from the Wells Collection, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 208 (regarding series dating)

price: Sold