Paul Binnie

Scottish, b. 1967

A Hundred Shades of Ink of Edo: Hiroshige's Edo
(Edo zumi hyaku shoku: Hiroshige no Edo)

the background printed with sumi ink bokashi of barenswirls, the series title cartouche printed in gold at upper right, Edo zumi hyaku shoku, the print title to the left with the first portion Hiroshige no, in the style of Hiroshige's signature, followed by a small landscape with Mount Fuji, signed in gold kanji, Bin-ni, with artist's red seal Binnie in the shape of a fish kite, numbered and signed in pencil on the bottom margin, 56/100 Paul Binnie, 2015

dai oban tate-e 16 1/2 by 12 1/4 in., 42 by 31.1 cm

In the final design for this series, Binnie portrays the same model, Akiko, that he used for the first female nude Edo Ink design, Utamaro's Erotica (Utamaro no shunga), which was released in 2005. The central tattoo on the back of this nude is derived from one of the most iconic works of ukiyo-e, Sudden Shower at Ohashi Bridge (Ohashi Atke no yudachi), from the landmark series, One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Edo Meisho Hyakkei) by the great 19th century landscape artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858). Other elements taken from the same Edo Meishoseries are the tattoo of an eagle on the woman's shoulders which is derived from Plain at Suzaki, Fukagawa (Fukagawa, Suzaki, Jumantsubo), the pale rose colored cloth she demurely holds at her hips which references the design of Plum Estate, Kameido (Kameido Umeyashiki), and the red artist's seal in the shape of a carp references the boy's day kites featured in the view of Suido Bridge and Surugadai. The background is decorated with diagonal lines of stylized rain and dark baren suji-zuri swirls at the top edge which cleverly allude to the black bokashi storm clouds found on deluxe impressions of Ohashi Bridge.
(inv. no. C-1939)

price: $700