| Notes (this edition)?: |
| The following information was taken from the original web listing of this artwork. Note that there may be some inaccuracies:
2006年2月19日
Offered is an early, original Japanese woodblock print by the 20th century shin hanga master Takahashi HIROAKI (Shotei) (1871-1945).
This is a tanzaku size print 14 ¾” x 6 ½” depicting an itinerant entertainer with the tools of his trade – including his trained monkey – crossing over rural footbridge with a snow capped mountain in the distance.
The print (c. 1917) pre-dates the great Kanto earthquake of 1923.
The print is signed and has a kanji inscription and the publisher is Watanabe.
The print is in very good condition and might be lightly toned. There is a small, unobtrusive stain on the lower right edge. I have not seen this image reproduced anywhere else on the internet in the last five years. It is printed on thin, soft washi paper, unlike the thicker, stiffer paper used in Watanabe’s post-quake prints.
The edges of this print are quite worn with a couple of very tiny tears. Otherwise the print is in good condition. I should mention (and I will add this to my listing) that there is a stamp on the back at the bottom which says No. 900. I have attached a couple of jpgs for you. |
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| Artist Bio: |
Takahashi Shotei was born in Tokyo with the given name of Takahashi Katsutaro. At a young age he was trained in Nihon-ga , the traditional Japanese painting style by his uncle Matsumoto Fuko, and beginning around 1907 Shotei started designing for the Watanabe Color Print Company. Shotei was among the first designers to be recruited into Watanabe's stable of artists, which would later expand to include Goyo, Shinsui, Hasui, Kasamatsu, Koson and Koitsu among others. Many Watanabe prints were designed for export, primarily to North America, where the demand for all things Japanese was high in the early 20th century.
By 1923 Shotei had produced nearly 500 designs for Watanabe, when Tokyo was hit by the Great Kanto earthquake -- the worst recorded natural catastrophe in the history of Japan. The fires ignited by the earthquake raged for three days, and Watanabe's print shop and all the woodblocks created by Shotei and the other early shin hanga artists, were destroyed.
After the earthquake Shotei created another 250 prints mostly depicting scenic Japanese landscapes in the shin hanga style he had helped to define. He continued to work for Watanabe, but also worked with the publishers Fusui Gabo and Shobido Tanaka, where he had more control over the finished print than was possible with Watanabe.
Shotei used a variety of names, signatures and seals during his lifetime. From 1907 until 1922 he used the name Shotei, and after 1922 Hiroaki and Komei.
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