Ito Shinsui

Couple Embracing

c. 1928

Amorous Couple Watercolor on laid paper, c. 1810 Unsigned Provenance: Emile Wolf (1899-1996) The art collection of Emile Wolf was dispersed by Sotheby and Stair Galleries. Condition: Excellent 22K gold leaf finishes corner frame (see photo) “Mr. Wolf’s collection reflects a lifelong commitment to the arts. Although a mainstay of the Old Masters art scene in New York, Mr. Wolf’s collection spanned centuries and genres. He was an impassioned collector, and his Fifth Avenue apartment was filled with paintings and drawings that hung from floor to ceiling in every room. Space void of art was lined with an extensive library of art books that fueled his ardent collecting. Mr. Wolf took great joy in sharing this collection and his ideas with art historians, collectors, dealers and university students. The Wolf collection included masterworks from every influential and groundbreaking Impressionist and modern artist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, ranging from an outstanding grouping of works on paper by Picasso, Pissarro, and Cezanne to a Renoir oil...

Title: The Heroine Umekawa in "Meido no Kiyaku" Medium: Color woodcut with mica background, silver metallic pigment, and "gofun" for the snow effect Date Of Execution: 1923 Dimension...

Signed: Keisai Eisen ga; Seal: Kiwame Series: Contemporary Scenes in the Pleasure Quarters Publisher: Wakasaya Yoichi Note: This is a famous ...

Au Japon Pochoir (Stencil Print), 1925 Signed by the artist in pencil lower right (see photo) Signed in the image lower left (see photo) Stamped verso: Made in France Note: The artis...

Two Actors - Japanese Woodblock by Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延, 1838–1912), better known to his contemporaries as Yōshū Chikanobu (楊洲周延). Colorful and expressive court scene. Two actors...

Lovers Walking in the Snow is a woodcut print realized in the mid-20th Century after a woodcut print by Suzuki Harunobu. Good conditions. The artwork is depicted through soft line...

LOVE FOR A STREET-WALKER Crayon, graphite, pencil on paper. Measurements: (H) 76 x (W) 56 cm. Attractive portrait of an Edo prostitute hurrying through the streets. She wears a black kimono over layers of colored kimono, tucking her hand into the "obi" at her waist. A white scarf is draped over her head, the edge caught between her teeth, and loose wisps of hair framed her face. There is an impressive contrast between the black kimono and the yellow-orange of collars, sleeves and "obi", balancing the composition the pastel pink of the scarf that covers her head. This image is part of the "bijin-ga" series, Pretty Women, drawn by Mario BGil, based in the Kitigawa Utamaro woodblock print "Love for a street-walker" (1795), 37,2 x 24,6 cm. The British Musem. London, UK. The artist reproduces the seal of the censor (Kiwame) and from the original publisher ("Tsutaya", climbing leaf)), between the two, the signature of Mario BGil written in Japanese, with the date 14 (2014). The mesaurements of the drawing are 76 x 56 cm. (29,92 x 22,05 in.), with a painted surface of 67 x 49,5 cm. With his work on the "bijing-ga" series, Mario BGil wanted to embellish, give brilliance and volume to the images presented by japanese artist Kitigawa Utamaro in those beautiful engravings, ennobled with the patina of time, which have served as inspiration. The result obtained is almost life-size portraits, endowed with strong chromaticism and valuable contrasts, all enhanced, in turn, with the volume provided by the weight and rigidity of the paper, and its thick texture (Fabriano Artistico “grana grosso”, 640g/m2; the thickness and hardness of the paper makes it necessary to transport it without rolling). In this way, Mario BGil pays tribute to his admired artist and offers us a new and enriched vision of this popular facet of oriental art from the 18th and 19th centuries. ABOUT THE ARTIST Mario BGil is a self-taught artist who for years has combined his creative activity with his work in the family business, away from commercial art galleries. In 2012, a deep interest in oriental art was awakened in him and he began to study the great masters of Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, who had such an influence on the European avant-garde of the late 19th century. The discovery of Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806), a key figure in the metropolitan culture of Edo (now Tokyo), and a point of reference in the history of Japanese engraving...

Couple is an original etching realized by Louis Jou in the Early 20th Century. Good conditions. Specimen before the lettering. Louis Jou (Gracia, 1882 - Baux, 1968), the twentieth-century etcher and wood engraver, was a prolific illustrator of a large number of books in France, authored by big names like Andre Gide...