Ito Shinsui

Beauty Covering Her Hair (Gathering Shellfish: Shiohigari)

1931

Title: Fireworks 花火 Series: The Second Collection of Modern Beauties (Gendai bijin shū dai nishū 現代美人集第二輯) Date: 1932 A young woman is shown enjoying the summer fireworks, her face shown in profile as she looks towards the display. She holds a summer fan on her lap, and her kimono features large blue stripes and is tied with a colorful obi that features a morning glory pattern. The summer evening sky is a soft grey rather than a deep black, perhaps reflecting the brightness of the fireworks. Numbered verso, from a limited edition of 250 prints. Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition. Publisher: Watanabe Shôzaburô Literature: See “All the Woodblock Prints of Shinsui Ito...

A beauty turns to admire the Kirifuri Waterfall in Nikko Province. She holds the handle of an umbrella and wears fashionable clothing that is beautifully printed. This series pairs f...

A courtesan in Heian period style looks over the prow of her watercraft, looking ahead through the famous torii of Miyajima (Itsukushima) Shrine. She will be dancing in the ceremonies of the annual festival held in Itsukushima in the sixth month of the lunar calendar. Note the ukiyoe style of the beauty and the water, and the Shijo style of the rendering of the torii and the shore. Her enormous traveling hat and veil are placed beside her. From the series "One Hundred Famous Views of the Moon...

Shichirigahama, Sagami Province. A beauty in the foreground waves to her young companions, who run towards her on the beach. The beauty at left wears a western-style golden ring. We ...

“War Chronicles of Osaka” (Osaka gunki no uchi). Okubo Hikozaemon, raising his sword, protects the hidden Tokugawa shogun from the spear of Gorô Matabei Mototsugu in a moonlit fores...

"Sun, Moon and Stars". Three beauties enjoy a full moon on the veranda of a teahouse or restuarant. The woman on the left kneels and adjusts her lavishly printed kimono. The beauty in the center has her hair down, and behind her is a screen against which shadows are beautifully silhouetted, which adds an air of mystery. The seated woman on the right is perhaps a geisha, as we see a shamisen lying next to her. Before her is a tray with an assortment of foods. One may surmise that the beauties are being compared to the sun, the moon, and the stars. On the left we glimpse a full moon shining over the peaceful bay, and boats at harbor. Original first edition Japanese color woodblock print triptych...

Anonymous, Japanese Kimono Fabric Design, color woodcut, c. 1930. A superb impression, with fresh colors, fine graduations, and metallic gold motifs, on ...

A fine, atmospheric impression, with fresh colors; the full sheet, in excellent condition. Signed 'Hasui' with the artist’s seal 'Kawase', lower left. Published by Watanabe Shozaburo with the Watanabe 6mm round seal indicating a lifetime impression printed between 1945 - 1957. Archivally sleeved, unmatted. Image size 14 1/4 x 9 3/8 inches (362 x 238 mm); sheet size 15 1/2 x 10 3/8 inches (391 x 264 mm). An impression of this work is in the permanent collection of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, Achenbach Foundation. ABOUT THE ARTIST “I do not paint subjective impressions. My work is based on reality...I can not falsify...(but) I can simplify…I make mental impressions of the light and color at the time of sketching. While coloring the sketch, I am already imagining the effects in a woodblock print.” — Kawase Hasui Hasui Kawase (1883–1957) is the most celebrated Japanese print designer of the shin-hanga ('new prints') movement. His prints, produced under the guidance and discerning eye of his publisher, Watanabe Shozaburo, represent the modern legacy of the renowned 19th-century Ukiyo-e masters Hiroshige and Hokusai. Hasui was able to evoke the fleeting beauty of Japan during the interwar period as no other printmaker of his time could. Hasui's work enjoyed huge popularity upon producing his first print in 1918. Watanabe recognized and developed the enormous potential of the American market, resulting in Hasui's prints achieving high prices at auctions in New York as early as the 1920s. After the Second World War, his prints became highly sought-after collectible works among the American occupying forces in Japan. Hasui designed more than 600 prints during the 40-year span of his artistic career, and in 1956, he was named a 'Living National Treasure' of Japan. Hasui’s woodblock...

Morita Kanya XIII As Genta Kagesue in the play Genta Kando Color woodcut, 1928 Signed and stamped middle right edge Natori stamp lower left image edge Series: Collection of Creative...

Paper Size: 37.4 x 31.6 cm Image Size: 27 x 24 cm Print on paper, signed in pencil to the right, Edition in pencil 39/58. There is an artist water mark in the paper (see image) As S...

Hajime Namiki, 'Weeping Cherry 16 A', color woodblock print, 2012, edition 200. Signed in pencil with the artist’s red seal. Titled, dated, and numbered ...

Paper Size: 37.4 x 31.6 cm Image Size: 27 x 24 cm Print on paper, signed in pencil to the right, Edition in pencil 39/58. There is an artist water mark in the paper (see image) As S...