Paul Binnie

Scottish, b. 1967

Tears
(Namida)

signed at the lower right in kanji, Bin-ni, followed by artist's gold seal Binnie, the print title on the lower left margin, Namida, numbered in pencil on bottom margin at left, 24/50, embossed Binnie at center of the bottom margin, and numbered and signed in pencil at right, Paul Binnie, a special limited red-ground edition completed in 2009

dai oban tate-e 17 3/4 by 12 1/4 in., 45 by 31 cm

As Binnie continues to produce new designs for various ongoing series, including the figural series, Collection of Eastern Brocade Beauties (Azuma nishiki bijin awase), he has also issued red (or pink) ground variant impressions in smaller editions. The red ground beauties tend to sell quickly and can be challenging to locate.

This print is a variation of 'Morning Tears' (Asa ni Namida) from the Collection of Eastern Brocade Beauties series. The title of the original design, 'Morning Tears', brings to mind the famous 1930 print 'Morning Hair,' by Torii Kotondo, which was reportedly confiscated by the Japanese government who found the subject (the proverbial 'morning after') too suggestive. Binnie's 'morning after' is suggestive in a far different way, here a beauty weeps while hiding her face. In contrast to the lavish icy-blue mica background on the original 'Morning Tears,' the deep red ground on this edition, titled simply 'Tears', evokes a slightly different mood. Both versions leave the crux of the story to our interpretation.

This small edition of only 50 impressions is available exclusively from Scholten Japanese Art.

(inv. no. 10-3303)

price: $950