Skip to main content

Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Japanese, 1871-1945
Born in Tokyo in 1871, Hiroaki Takahashi was working as an artist in an official capacity at an incredibly young age. After an early apprenticeship with his uncle, Matsumoto Fuko (who awarded the young boy the name Shôtei), Takahashi was hired by the Imperial Household Department of Foreign Affairs to copy designs for ceremonial objects. By the age of 18, Shôtei was a co-founder of the Japan Youth Painting Society, and by 1907 he had been recruited by Shōzoburō Watanabe to produce prints for his Shin Hanga movement. The Shin Hanga ("New Print") movement served to satisfy the widespread demand in the Western world for the export of traditional Ukiyo-e prints in the style of masters like Hiroshige. Shôtei enjoyed tremendous success in this endeavor, however, it was cut devastatingly short in 1923. On September 1st of 1923, the Great Kanto Earthquake, also known as the Tokyo-Yokohama earthquake of 1923, struck the Tokyo metropolitan area without warning with a magnitude of 7.9. Up until that point in time it was the worst natural disaster recorded in the history of earthquake-prone Japan. The earthquake, which is said to have lasted up to ten mintues, caused a tsunami, a rotational wind burst with a burning core called a "fire whirl," and extensive firestorms, which quickly spread across the main island of Honshū. Watanabe's facility was reduced to ashes, and the inferno took every single woodblock with it. Lucky to have survived the devastation, Shôtei, now having added the name Hiroaki, spent the rest of his life recreating his lost woodblocks, as well as creating a handful of new designs. There is some speculation that impressions of woodblocks with the kanja characters reading Shôtei, versus Rakutei, may indicate pre-earthquake impressions versus post-earthquake impressions, printed from a block recreated by the artist after his own design. The signature and title on this work would have been added in English by an assistant in preparation for its export to the West. Despite a persistent bit of misinformation that Shôtei died in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, he actually died of pneumonia in February of 1945, at the age of 74.
to
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
1
1,204
948
934
834
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
Artist: Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei).
Street Singers (Ukiyobushi), Shamisen Player and Singer
By Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei)
Located in Middletown, NY
Watanabe Shozaburo, 1936. Woodblock in colors on handmade mulberry paper, Koban 182 x 120 mm, full margins. With the Shôtei artist seal in red ink, upper right. Signed "Shotei" and titled in English on the matrix in graphite. With the "Made in Japan" export stamp and the Watanabe catalog number stamp 179, both in blue ink, on the bottom sheet edge, verso, as issued. Adhered to a card stock matrix with deckle edges, as issued. A beautiful pre-war impression of this serene and peaceful scene, good gradient inking and luminosity in the lantern. Printed by hand with cherrywood blocks. *Marc Kahn, Shotei catalog S10; Watanabe 179 Born in Tokyo in 1871, Hiroaki Takahashi...
Category

Early 20th Century Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Watercolor, Handmade Paper, Woodcut

Related Items
"Toy Horse Dance" Japanese Woodblock Triptych with Beauties and Mt Fuji
Located in Soquel, CA
"Toy Horse Dance" Japanese Woodblock Triptych with Beauties and Mt Fuji Vibrant three-panel woodblock print by Utagawa Toyohiro (Japanese,...
Category

Early 20th Century Edo Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut

Kabuki Actor with Pine-Patterned Robe - Japanese Woodblock Print
By Utagawa Toyokuni
Located in Soquel, CA
Kabuki Actor with Pine-Patterned Robe - Japanese Woodblock Print Finely detailed woodblock by Utagawa Toyokuni (Japanese, 1769-1825). A kabuki actor is standing on a wooden deck, wearing a robe with a pine-needle pattern. He is holding a sword and a staff. In the background, tree branches hang down from out of frame. Presented in a gold colored frame with a silk mat. Frame size: 20"H x 14.25"W Image size: 14"H x 8.5"W Utagawa Toyokuni (Japanese, 1769-1825) was born in Edo, the son of Kurahashi Gorobei, a carver of dolls and puppets...
Category

Early 19th Century Impressionist Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut

The Courtesan Kashiwagi and the Kamuro Wakano - Japanese Woodblock Print
By Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)
Located in Soquel, CA
The Courtesan Kashiwagi and the Kamuro Wakano - Japanese Woodblock Print Original Toyokuni III/Kunisada (Japanese, 1786 - 1864) Japanese Woodblock Print "The Courtesan Kashiwagi and...
Category

1820s Realist Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Printer's Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut

Deutzia Flowers: The Wife of Kasamori - Original Woodblock Print
Located in Soquel, CA
Deutzia Flowers: The Wife of Kasamori - Original Woodblock Print Deutzia Flowers: The Wife of Kasamori, from the Series "Beauties of the Floating World Associated with Flowers" by S...
Category

1760s Edo Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Woodcut, Ink, Rice Paper

Kiyomizu Temple, Scenes of Famous Places along Tôkaidô Road - Woodblock on Paper
By Utagawa Hiroshige II
Located in Soquel, CA
Kiyomizu Temple, Scenes of Famous Places along Tôkaidô Road - Woodblock on Paper Full Title: Kyoto: Kiyomizu Temple (Kyô Kiyomizudera), from the series Scenes of Famous Places along...
Category

1860s Edo Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut

Kabuki actor Nakamura Shikan II by Utagawa Kunisada Edo Japanese Woodblock Print
By Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)
Located in Soquel, CA
Kabuki actor Nakamura Shikan II by Utagawa Kunisada Japanese Woodblock Print Wonderful portrait of Nakamura Shikan II, a prominent kabuki actor, in the role of Kisen Hoshi Toyokuni ...
Category

1820s Realist Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Printer's Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut

Utagawa Kunisada III (1848-1920) Ukiyo-E Woodblock Print "Portrait Of Samurai"
By Utagawa Kunisada III
Located in New York, NY
Title: Portrait Of Samurai Medium: Woodblock Print Style: Ukiyo-e Size: 13 1/2"" x 9 1/2"" Frame Size: 18 1/2"" x 14 1/2"" Signature: Kunisada Provenance: Collection from E...
Category

Early 20th Century Other Art Style Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Washi Paper, Woodcut

Japanese Original Woodblock Print
Located in Soquel, CA
Japanese Original Woodblock Print Harunobu Suzuki (né Hozumi) (Japanese, 1724 - 1770) Presented in a black mat. Mat: 16"H x 12"W Paper: 12"H x 9"W I...
Category

18th Century Edo Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut

Mitate of a Daimyo's Procession Crossing Ryogoku Bridge - Woodblock Print
By Keisai Eisen
Located in Soquel, CA
Mitate of a Daimyo's Procession Crossing Ryogoku Bridge - Woodblock Print Woodblock print of a procession by Keisai Eisen (Japanese, 1790–1848). Terrific triptych of a procession of...
Category

Early 19th Century Edo Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut

"Grave of Santa Anna's Leg" Original Woodblock Print, Signed Artist's Proof
By Carol Summers
Located in Soquel, CA
"Grave of Santa Anna's Leg" Original Woodblock Print, Signed Artist's Proof Boldly colored woodblock print by Carol Summers (American, 1925-2016). This piece is a segment of a grave, with a headstone that has a skull and cross. There are two bright green plants flanking the headstone. Below the headstone and plants, there is a large arched blue shape, with a crescent moon and stars. A red leg, bent at the knee, cuts across the blue arch. Signed "Carol Summers" along the right edge of the blue shape. Numbered and titled "A/P Grave of Sant Anna's Leg" along the left edge of the blue shape. Presented in a silver colored aluminum frame. Frame size: 32.245"H x 27.25"W Paper size: 29.75"H x 24.5"W Carol Summers (1925-2016) has worked as an artist throughout the second half of the 20th century and into the first years of the next, outliving most of his mid-century modernist peers. Initially trained as a painter, Summers was drawn to color woodcuts around 1950 and it became his specialty thereafter. Over the years he has developed a process and style that is both innovative and readily recognizable. His art is known for it’s large scale, saturated fields of bold color, semi-abstract treatment of landscapes from around the world and a luminescent quality achieved through a printmaking process he invented. In a career that has extended over half a century, Summers has hand-pulled approximately 245 woodcuts in editions that have typically run from 25 to 100 in number. His talent was both inherited and learned. Born in 1925 in Kingston, a small town in upstate New York, Summers was raised in nearby Woodstock with his older sister, Mary. His parents were both artists who had met in art school in St. Louis. During the Great Depression, when Carol was growing up, his father supported the family as a medical illustrator until he could return to painting. His mother was a watercolorist and also quite knowledgeable about the different kinds of papers used for various kinds of painting. Many years later, Summers would paint or print on thinly textured paper originally collected by his mother. From 1948 to 1951, Carol Summers trained in the classical fine and studio arts at Bard College and at the Art Students League of New York. He studied painting with Steven Hirsh and printmaking with Louis Schanker. He admired the shapes and colors favored by early modernists Paul Klee (Sw: 1879-1940) and Matt Phillips (Am: b.1927- ). After graduating, Summers quit working as a part-time carpenter and cabinetmaker (which had supported his schooling and living expenses) to focus fulltime on art. That same year, an early abstract, Bridge No. 1 was selected for a Purchase Prize in a competition sponsored by the Brooklyn Museum. In 1952, his work (Cathedral, Construction and Icarus) was shown the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in an exhibition of American woodcuts...
Category

1980s Contemporary Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Ink, Handmade Paper, Woodcut

"The Kaminarimon at the Kanseon Temple in Asakusa" - Original Japanese Print
Located in Soquel, CA
"The Kaminarimon at the Kanseon Temple in Asakusa" - Original Japanese Print Japanese Print "The Kaminarimon at the Kanseon Temple in Asakusa", from the series "Famous Places in Ed...
Category

1850s Showa Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Rice Paper, Woodcut

Kumasaka Chōhan to Ushiwakamaru - One of a Diptych Original Woodcut Print
By Utagawa Kunisada (Toyokuni III)
Located in Soquel, CA
Kumasaka Chōhan to Ushiwakamaru is a Japanese Ukiyo-e print created between 1848 and 1854 by artist Utagawa Kunisada (Japanese, 1786-1864). The print is a Diptych, and is part of the...
Category

1850s Realist Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Printer's Ink, Rice Paper, Woodcut

Previously Available Items
'Tama Cat'
By Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei)
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed, upper left, in kanji, 'Sanjiokina Hiroaki' with stamp below, 'Shotei' for Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei) (Japanese, 1871-1945) and dated upper left in kanji, 'Taisho 13, June' (June 1926). Publication stamped, lower right, in hiragana, 'Watanabe' and titled, 'White Cat, Tama'. Artist: Takahashi Hiroaki (Shōtei) (Given) Piece Name: 白猫(たま)(White Cat, Tama) Date: Taisho 13, June (1924, June) Publisher's impressed stamp, lower left for Watanabe Shozaburo. This Heisei period impression hand-printed from the original wood blocks by the original publisher Watanabe Color Print Co. circa 1989. Note the extensive use of gauffrage (blind embossing) used to depict the cat's fur. Takahashi Shotei...
Category

Late 20th Century Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Paper, Woodcut

Nude Before the Mirror
By Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei)
Located in Burbank, CA
Sometimes titled “Makup before the Mirror”, we see a modern girl (moga) seating herself in front of her mirror while drying her nude body with a towe...
Category

1920s Showa Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Mulberry Paper, Color, Woodcut

Tama The Cat
By Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei)
Located in Burbank, CA
A white cat eyes the viewer from a seat of comfort. The black background has been printed in the style that shows the swirling marks of the printing baren, done deliberately to offer depth to the design.The blindprinting (gaufrage) is very pronounced in the white fur. As there is the Japanese seal...
Category

1920s Showa Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). Prints and Multiples

Materials

Woodcut

Takahashi Hiroaki (shotei). prints and multiples for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). prints and multiples available for sale on 1stDibs. Not every interior allows for large Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). prints and multiples, so small editions measuring 5 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Kono Bairei, Yuji Hiratsuka, and Mikio Watanabe. Takahashi Hiroaki (Shotei). prints and multiples prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $350 and tops out at $350, while the average work can sell for $350.

Still Thinking About These?

All Recently Viewed