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| Artist: | Torii Kotondo (1900-1976) — 鳥居言人 |
| Title: | Rain (Ame) — 雨 |
| Series: | |
| Date of first edition?: | 1929/10 |
| Date of this artwork?: | 1980s (may not be accurate) |
| Publisher (first edition)?: | Sakai and Kawaguchi — 酒井川口 |
| Publisher (this edition)?: | Ishukankokai — 遺珠刊行会 |
| Medium (first edition): | Woodblock |
| Medium (this edition): | Woodblock |
| Format (first edition): | Large Oban
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| Format (this edition): | Large Oban |
| DB artwork code: | 34927 |
| Notes (first edition)?: |
Artist Torii Kotondo
Title Ami (Rain)
Medium Original, Limited-Edition Japanese Woodblock Print
Date 1929
Publisher Kawaguchi/Sakai
Reference No Female Image, # 173
Size 16 x 10 "
Editions: 200 (S&K first edport edition), 300 (S&K first domestic edition).
Notes: Embossed title in the lower margin reads, "Ami" ('Rain'). Dated and signed center right, "Showa yonnen jugatsu Kotondo ga" ('Showa 4 (1929), October, picture by Kotondo'), followed by rectangular artist's seal reading "Torii".
Embossed joint publisher's seal in the lower left margin of Sakai and Kawaguchi. Blocks carved by Ito and printed by Komatsu Wasakichi.
Re-issued in the series "Twelve Aspects of Women" circa August 23, 1988. |
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| Notes (this edition)?: |
| The following information was taken from the original web listing of this artwork. Note that there may be some inaccuracies:
Monday, 28 March 2005
A few years after the death of Torii Kotondo in 1976, Ishukankokai, a Tokyo publisher, republished his famous bijin prints from the late 1920s and early 1930s. Those prints are among the most expensive pre-WWII prints, and it is obvious that this 1980s project was meant to offer these designs at more reasonable prices.
Fortunately, Ishukankokai did not cut any corners. This standards with which this set was published were incredibly high: the quality of the paper, the carving and the printing are all unsurpassed. In my pictures I have tried to give an impression of the quality of this publication, but 'the real thing' has to be seen to be believed.
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| Artist Bio: |
| Torii Kotondo (or Torii Kiyotada VIII) is renowned for his paintings and shin hanga prints of beautiful women. His woodblock prints, superbly carved and printed, are comparable with those of Hashiguchi Goyo and Ito Shinsui. Kotondo was born with the name Saito Akira in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo. He was the only son among the five children of Torii Kiyotada, the seventh Torii master. The Torii school had a long tradition of painting and printmaking for the Japanese theater, extending back to the seventeenth century. Kabuki theater was still very popular in the early twentieth century and prints and painted posters were the primary means of publicity. Although Kotondo was mainly interested in studying history and archaeology, it was assumed that he would follow in his father's footsteps and join the Torii school. At age 14, Kotondo agreed to leave school and begin studies with Kobori Tomone, a yamato-e painter. Along with painting classes, Tomone taught Kotondo about the court and military practices of ancient Japan, satisfying his interest in history. A year later, he was officially adopted as the next heir of the Torii school and assumed the artist's name 'Kotondo'. While still studying with Tomone, he began designing illustrations for a theatrical magazine, Engei Gaho ('Entertainment Illustrated Magazine'), and painted kabuki posters and billboards. Torii Kotondo was the 8th Torii and the 5th Torii Kiyotada. His father was the 4th Kiyotada.
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