Kobe
by Bartlett Charles

	Artist:	Bartlett Charles
	Title:	Kobe
	Series:
	Date 1st edition?:	1916
	Publisher 1st edition?:	Watanabe Shozaburo — 渡辺
	Publisher (this edition)?:	Watanabe Shozaburo — 渡辺
	Medium (1st edition):	Woodblock
	Medium (this edition):	Woodblock
	Format (1st edition):	Oban
	Format (this edition):	Oban
	DB artwork code:	39191
	Notes (1st edition)?:	Artist: William Charles Bartlett (1860-1940) Woodblock Prints Title: Kobe 1st Publication: 1916 Size: 15" x 10" (25.5 x 38 cm) Publisher: Wanatabe Shozaburo
	Notes (this edition)?:	The following information was taken from the original web listing of this artwork. Often written by non-experts, there may be inaccuracies: Wednesday, 26 April 2006 Charles W. Bartlett AMRITSAR; KOBE Color woodcuts, 1916, signed in red pencil, pale lightstain, two pieces of old paper tape at sheet edge verso, the first with a few specks of discoloration, unobtrusive creasing (mainly in the margins), some light abrasion and paper residue at top of sheet verso, the second with some printer's ink and other discoloration in the margins (mainly at top), otherwise in good condition, with full margins. (2) Larger 14 1/4 x 9 1/8 inches; 362 x 232 mm.
	Artist Bio:	Charles William Bartlett (1860-1940) was one of the first artists to work with the publisher Watanabe Shozaburo. Bartlett studied at the Royal Academy in London and at Academie Julian in Paris. Until his travels to Japan, Ceylon, Indonesia, and China in 1913, Bartlett worked primarily as a landscape and genre painter. In 1915 he met famous print publisher Watanabe, with whom he collaborated on the publication of a number of "shin hanga" style colour woodblock prints during the next decade, using Watanabe's studio to carve and create his own woodblocks. Bartlett designed 38 woodblock prints for Watanabe, beginning in 1916 and lasting through 1925. Twenty-two of these prints were produced within the first year, many with the date 1916 carved into the key block. The first series of prints consisted of six Indian scenes plus a cover print of the Taj Mahal. This was followed by a series of six Japanese scenes. Many of Bartlett's prints and etchings were scenes from his travels through Southeast Asia, China, and later Hawaii. After 1917, Bartlett settled in Hawaii where he remained for the rest of his life. It is little known that in actual fact Bartlett commissioned Watanabe to publish his 38 scenes, rather than being an artist working for Watanabe, and from his base in Hawaii Bartlett held a very tight reign over Watanabe's production of each scene, requesting numerous fine colour changes for each scene. Because each of the scenes were commissioned and thus paid for by Bartlett , he maintained ownership of all the woodblocks, which were shipped back to Hawaii after each edition and are still kept in Hawaii even to this day.