Mountain and Skiing
by Koizumi Kishio

	Artist:	Koizumi Kishio — 小泉癸巳男 (1893‐1945)
	Title:	Mountain and Skiing
	Series:	100 Views of Japan
	Date of first edition?:	1938
	Publisher (first edition)?:	Not Set
	Publisher (this edition)?:	Not Set
	Medium (first edition):	Woodblock
	Medium (this edition):	Woodblock
	Format (first edition):	Oban
	Format (this edition):	Oban
	DB artwork code:	35956
	Notes (first edition)?:
	Notes (this edition)?:	The following information was taken from the original web listing of this artwork. Note that there may be some inaccuracies: Artist: Kishio Koizumi Subject: 100 Views of Japan: Mountain Snow Scene Date: 1938 Oban design measures: 12" x 15.25" Condition: Excellent color, impression, condition, Minor dirt-traces in margins.
	Artist Bio:	Print artist Koizumi Kishio was born in Shizuoka. He was the son of a specialist in calligraphy who commissioned woodblock-printed manuals and he learned the craft from his father's block-carver Horigoe Kan'ichi. In common with many sosaku hanga (creative print) artists he studied Western-style water-colour, in his case under Ishii Hakutei (1882-1958) and Maruyama Banka (1867-1942), at the Nihon Suisaiga-kai (Japan Watercolour Institute) in Tokyo. The three founders of the Institute Ishii Hakutei, Tobari Kogan (1882-1927) and Nakazawa Hiromitsu (1874-1964)] were also woodblock printmakers and Koizumi was naturally led along that path, especially by Tobari Kogan, whom he knew as a colleague in carving blocks for newspaper illustration. He was an early member of the Creative Print Association from 1919 and an activist in it and its successors. Like Tobari he was a practical carver of blocks and like him wrote a practical manual much used by other artists, Mokuhanga no horikata to surikata (The method of carving and printing woodblock prints, 1924).1 He is best known for his series Showa dai Tokyo hyakkei zue (One Hundred Views of Great Tokyo in the Showa Era) which he produced himself between 1928 and 1940. Although artistically interesting only in parts, the series is a detailed and nostalgic survey of pre-war Tokyo, including a poignant view of Frank Lloyd Wright's old Imperial Hotel. Koizumi was influential on the sosaku hanga movement through his manual and through carving and printing for other artists. He was forced to leave Tokyo by the Pacific War, and died in Saitama in 1945 before he could return. -- Lavenburg Collection 版画家・小泉癸巳男〔明治26（1893）年〜昭和20（1945） 年〕は、静岡市生まれ。明治末に画家を志して上京、当 初は日本水彩画会研究所に入所し水彩画を学びます。そ の後、木版工房に入り彫版技術を身に付け、大正初期、 新たな芸術表現の一つになりつつあった創作版画の制作 に力を入れ始めます。そして、大正8（1919）年、山本 鼎らにより設立された日本創作版画協会会員となり第1 回展から出品。その後も出品を重ね木版画家として活躍 しました。 　この「昭和大東京百図絵」は、震災復興後の近代化され た東京が描かれた風景版画です。大正12（1923）年、未 曽有の大惨事となった関東大震災は、首都東京に壊滅的 な被害を及ぼし、江戸情緒残る大都市は一面がれきの山 と化しました。しかし、多くの人々の尽力により、昭和初 期に見事復興を遂げ、近代建築が立ち並ぶ新たな「モダン・ 東京」が生まれます。この時期、そんな近代化される東 京風景を多くの版画家たちが作品に残しました。「昭和大 東京百図絵」もその潮流の一つといえます。 　小泉は、浮世絵の流れを引き継ぐ伝統的彫版技術を基 礎とし、自画・自刻・自じずり摺による創作版画で近代化された 新生東京を描いています。そこに小泉作品の面白さがあ ります。