California - Prints

A wonderful and quite rare woodblock print by unique master Japanese artist/ printmaker Tsuruya Kokei. This work is titled "Ichikawa Monnosuke VII as Cou...

A beautiful work by famed Japanese artist Kaoru Kawano who was known for his whimsical portrayals of women, children, and animals. Stylistically, he was one of the first Japanese art...

A wonderful Mingei woodblock print titled "Hirosaki Castle (sometimes just "Castle")" by famed Japanese master Showa era printmaker/ artist Shiko Munakata (棟方志功 ) who was widely considered to have been the Pablo Picasso of Japan. Munakata was associated with the Sosaku-hanga movement and the mingei (folk art) movement. His awards and recognitions include the "Prize of Excellence" at the Second International Print Exhibition in Lugano, Switzerland in 1952, the first prize at the São Paulo Bienal Exhibition in Brazil in 1955, and the Grand Prix at the Venice Biennale in 1956. In 1959 he spent a year touring and exhibiting in the United States. Upon his return, the Horinji Temple in Kyoto bestowed him with the honorary rank of “Hokkyo”. In 1962, he received the rank of “Hogan” from Nisseki Temple in Toyama prefecture. other awards include the Medal of Honor in 1963 and the Asahi Shimbun Culture Prize in 1965. In 1970, Munakata received the Order of Culture, the highest honor in the arts by the Japanese government. Munakata's work can be found in numerous international collections and museums including: The Britsih Museum, UK The Chicago Art Institute Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), NY The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met), NY The Philadelphia Museum of Art The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), Washington DC Kemper Art Museum, St. Louis The Munakata Shiko...

A beautiful and strongly composed woodblock print by renowned Japanese painter/artist Torii Kotondo. This work, titled Rain (Ame), is a highly coveted pr...

A beautifully designed and composed woodblock print by famed Japanese printmaker Kiyoshi Saito. Many consider Saito to be one of the most important, if not the most important, conte...

This exceptional and highly engaging, wonderfully detailed print titled "Wakanohana waiting for Dohyo-iri" depicts a portrait of a once well-known Sumo Wrestler in a strong, confiden...

A beautiful and strongly composed woodblock print by renowned Japanese painter/artist Torii Kotondo. This work, titled Steam (Steam Bath)/ Vapor (Yuge), ...

A beautiful and engaging large limited edition serigraph print by Japanese artist/print master Muramasa Kudo (1948-) titled "Lilies in Stream". The wor...

Beautiful vintage framed lithograph of the New York Stock Exchange. This piece is evocative and beautiful. This piece was originally provided...

A wonderfully composed, beautifully, and richly colored triptych woodblock print by famed Japanese artist Toyohara Kunichika featuring four dramatic and quite intense Kabuki theatre ...

A wonderful and quite rare woodblock print by unique master Japanese artist/ printmaker Tsuruya Kokei. This work is titled "Nakamura Tokizo V, as the kep...

A wonderful portrait of the artist's young son by master Japanese artist or printer Junichiro Sekino. The print is stamped with artist's seal, signed in pencil, titled ("II me' ctat" My Son), dated (1956) and numbered (8/50) by the artist. A very good impression and strong color Junichiro Sekino was largely considered, along with Kiyoshi Saito, to be one of Japan's paramount 20th century master print artists. Both were prominent leaders of the Sosaku Hanga movement. Sekino's works can be found in many museums including: The Museum of Modern Art, N. Y., the Art Institute Chicago...

A truly wonderful and extremely rare limited edition woodblock print by famed Japanese artist Junichiro Sekino This print of a pensive young girl dressed in a poncho and hat (likely in Mexico or Central/ South America) is hand pencil signed, sealed/ stamped in red, and numbered (appears to be 12/98 or 19/98) by Sekino. The image features a uniquely sparse composition and rich vibrant colors - very representative of the country this was likely initially conceived in. An exquisite and very rare/hard-to-find work. We have not seen this particular image ever come to the marketplace. Junichiro Sekino was largely considered, along with Kiyoshi Saito, to be one of Japan's paramount 20th-century master print artists. Both were prominent leaders of the Sosaku Hanga movement. Sekino's works can be found in many museums including: The Museum of Modern Art, N. Y., the Art Institute Chicago, the Museum of fine Art, Boston, the British Museum, and the Portland Art Museum among many other fine museums throughout the world. Would be a fantastic addition to any modern Japanese print...

Wonderful large abstract print by famed Japanese master printer Hideo Hagiwara who was generally considered one of the finest post-World War II Sosaku Hanga artists. In 1989 he was awarded a Gold Medal by the Nobel Prize Committee for five works produced on themes from the novels of Kawabata Yasunari. This print, titled Masque No...

This exceptional and stunning, limited edition large woodblock print is considered by many experts to be Sekino's masterpiece. The limited editi...

A wonderfully composed woodblock print by famed Japanese printmaker Kiyoshi Saito. Many consider Saito to be one of the most important, if not the most important, contemporary Japanese printmakers of the 20th century. This print is of a temple guardian of Tofuku-Ji which is one of the Kyoto Gozan or Five Great Zen Temples in Kyoto The print is signed and stamped, titled (Tofuku-Ji, Kyoto (A), dated (1961), and numbered (12/200) by the artist. Would be a great addition to any modern Japanese print...

Chinese ink rubbing printing depicting Panthaka Arhat, no.4 of the 16 arhat images immortalized in stone at the former stupa at Shengyin Temple. Depicted here sitting on a rock with a book in his left hand and snapping his fingers in his right hand, symbolic of the speed at which he obtained enlightenment, accompanied by a beggar’s bowl and an incense burner, complete with colophons and silk scroll mounting. The Emperor Qianlong ordered the stone stele to be carved in 1764 after the arhat designs painted by the famed artist Guanxiu (832-912). Even though the temple was destroyed in the Taiping rebellion, the steles remain and have been reinstalled at the Hangzhou Stele Forest. Condition: Creases from rolling, otherwise fine condition. Mounting: 58” x 22”. 19th Century. Ex Collection: Frank “Till” & Peggy Durdin, San Diego. For other rubbings of this stele see: Penn Museum, object number 2010-26-4 The Metropolitan Museum of Art AN#: 59.195.15 Fine Arts Library of Harvard University, record id: W280021_urn-3:FHCL:478850 For another example of this image rendered in jade and lacquer see: “Screen Paintings of Guanxiu’s Sixteen Arhats in the Collection of the Palace Museum” Luo Wehhua translated by Bruce Doar, Orientations, September 2010, p. 104. In this article the image is identified as the sixteenth arhat Abheda, It is explained in this article that Qianlong re-identified the arhats, thus the 16th Arhat attribution for this image. Also in this article the identical colophon by Qianlong above the image is translated as: “These accurate portraits of the Sixteen Arhats were created by the Tang Dynasty painter Guanxiu, as recorded in Xuanhe Huapu (Record of paintings in the Xuanhe Reign), and during the millennium from the Guangming reign period to the present day, the original works were to be found in Zhejiang, where they were housed in the collection of Shengyin Temple in Qiantang (Huangzhou). In spring of the dingchou year (1757) of his reign, the Qianlong emperor undertook a southern tour of inspection and stayed at an imperial lodge on the West Lake. He went to the temple to pay his respects and there he saw the arhats on display and wrote a description of these marvels. The sequence of the arhats and their names had been passed down since ancient times, but they did not correspond to their Sanskrit titles; the sequence of the arhat names conformed instead to the interpretation of the Sanskrit classics by the Zhangjia State Preceptor. The emperor penned the original names and positions in the sequence below each of the figures in accordance with the readings supplied in Tongwen Yuntong (Unified Rhymes), and below each he penned an encomium, which he signed. Then the images were returned to the collection, to be passed down as a perpetual treasure. Now, the fourth great arhat had long gone missing and we did not know where his painting was. But it was merely a trifling matter of matching the images with the names, and now surely we have found him! This I, the emperor, believe.” All 16 of these rubbings can be found in the Rubel Chinese Rubbings Collection at the Fine Arts Library of Harvard University with the following descriptive historical note: “Rubbing from stele depicting No. 4 of 16 arhats (Lohans, Buddhist saints) -- Nan ti mi duo luo qing you, Panthaka Arhat. Original painting attributed to Guanxiu, 832-912. Inscriptions written by Hongli, Emperor Qianlong (Gaozong, 1711-1799) of Qing Dynasty. 7 seals of Qianlong follow the inscriptions. Script style: in xing shu. Shi liu zun zhe -- "The 16 noble ones" are 16 lohans. Lohans are also called "a-lo-han" based on the transliteration of the Sanskrit term "arhat." (Japanese: Rakan; Chinese: Lohan; Tibetan: Gnas-brtan). Arhats or Arahants are saints or sages said to have renounced nirvana (freedom from the cycle of suffering and rebirth), vowed to remain in the world to protect the Dharma and propagate the Law of the Buddha in order to devote themselves more effectively to the relief of human misery, like the Bodhisattvas. These 16 Arhats, personal disciples distinguished by the Buddha, formed part of the 500 claimed by tradition to have attended the First Council in Rajagrha. The names and abodes of these 16 arhats are given in a work entitled "Record on the Duration of the Law, spoken by the Great arhat Nadimitra," which was translated into Chinese by the famous pilgrim Xuanzang (596-664) in 654. 16 lohans are quite often represented, especially in China and Japan, in sculpture and painting, in poses and with attributes. Every lohan can be easily with special icongraphic characteristics. Guanxiu (Jiang Deyin or Deyuan, a Buddhist monk also named Master Chan Yue, 832-912) -- painter during late Tang to Five Dynasties, specialized in painting lohan figures. Legend has it that the first portraits of the 18 Lohans...

A wonderfully composed and beautifully colored Japanese woodblock print featuring three Edo Era fan-wielding gossiping women, perhaps Geishas, one seemingly holding court standing ab...

A truly wonderful and highly coveted limited edition woodblock print by famed Japanese artist/printmaker Junichiro Sekino. This large print, titled "Flowers and New York (or convers...

A gorgeous and quite radiant print by Japanese artist/printmaker Isamu Sakamoto titled "Morning Light." The work features the dawn ("Reimei") light reflecting off a traditional build...

Chinese Propaganda Poster 1974 Vintage Chinese Poster from the period of the Chinese Proletarian Cultural Revolution. 1974 People's Publishing House, He Bei Province. Unlined. Proven...

A beautifully composed and subtly colored Japanese woodblock print featuring two women, likely Geishas, with one leaning on a banister languidly with an opium pipe in hand. This wor...

A beautifully composed, relatively rare woodblock print by famed Japanese Sosaku Hanga printmaker Kiyoshi Saito. Many consider Saito to be one of the most important, if not the most ...

Japanese Collagraph Print by Tsuguo Yanai (b. 1953, Hagi, Yamaguchi), titled “Broken Heart” in Japanese with the printing number 2/30 under the image on the left and pencil signatur...

Listing Description – 19th-Century Balinese White Elephant Allegorical Painting, Color on Cloth with Gilt An exquisite and richly symbolic 19th-century Balinese painting, rendered i...

A wonderful and quite rare woodblock print by unique master Japanese artist/ printmaker Tsuruya Kokei. This work is titled "Nakamura Shikan VII as Widow ...

A truly wonderful and exceedingly rare early limited edition woodblock print by famed Japanese artist/printmaker Junichiro Sekino. This print, titled "Yosaku Feeling Ill", is one of Sekino's earliest known works. A very dramatic image done in black and white, this work features the artist himself in a self-portraiture as he comforts his young son (who evidently does not feel well) in an almost playful and knowing manner. The print is double signed - once in white ink within the image and also hand pencil signed and numbered (9/30) by Sekino in the lower margin. The image features a focused and rather direct composition emphasized by the use of just the two colors. It is an exquisite and very rare/hard-to-find work. Quite engaging. A must for collectors of Sekino's work. Junichiro Sekino was largely considered, along with Kiyoshi Saito, to be one of Japan's paramount 20th-century master print artists. Both were prominent leaders of the Sosaku Hanga movement. Sekino's works can be found in many museums including: The Museum of Modern Art, N. Y., the Art Institute Chicago, the Museum of Fine Art, Boston, the British Museum, and the Portland Art Museum among many other Fine museums throughout the world. Would be a fantastic addition to any modern Japanese print...

A beautifully designed and colored work by Japanese artist Joichi (Joshi) Saito. The print is pencil signed and numbered (16/20) by the artist. A very eye-catching work overall...

An absolutely stunning, large woodblock print by American master printmaker Clifton Karhu who lived in Japan for over 50 years. Karhu's work gai...

Lithograph print with image entailing to a rabbi cutting challah bread. Stylistically similar to George Crionas. Rare and unexpected piece that commemorates a faithful scene. Mid-...

Leroy Neiman Olympic runner print. Signature and edition are signed in pencil on the piece. 13/175.

This vintage poster for Gold Bar cigarettes from the 1930s melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the Craft of color lithography. These advertisement post...

A wonderfully composed and boldly colored Japanese woodblock print. The print appears to be signed along the top margin (or these are publisher marks). From an impressive collect...

Discover a unique blend of art and history with this captivating block print of an animal. Set against a soothing green matte, this vintage piece stands as an intriguing dialogue bet...

This vintage poster for cigarettes from the 1930s melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the Craft of color lithography. These advertisement posters, depi...

This is an early 20th Century poster from the art deco period. This vintage poster melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the Craft of color lithography. ...