| | |
| Artist: | Shotei Takahashi (1871-1945) Hiroaki — 松亭高橋、弘明 |
| Title: | An Upward Bound Boat at Fujikawa River |
| Series: | |
| Date of first edition?: | 1936 (circa) |
| Publisher (first edition)?: | Watanabe Shozaburo — 渡辺 |
| Publisher (this edition)?: | Watanabe Shozaburo — 渡辺 |
| Medium (first edition): | Woodblock |
| Medium (this edition): | Woodblock |
| Format (first edition): | Mitsugiri
|
| Format (this edition): | Mitsugiri |
| DB artwork code: | 44661 |
| Notes (first edition)?: |
Artist: Takahasui Shotei
Format: Mitsugiri yoko-e: 15 x 6 inches
Subject: One of Shotei's finest moonlight designs. Fishermen by the light of a full Moon at the foot of Mount Fuji.
Publisher: Watanabe
Date: c.1920's |
|
| Notes (this edition)?: |
| The following information was taken from the original web listing of this artwork. Note that there may be some inaccuracies:
SHOTEI
Mt. Fuji from the Fuji River
Date: c. 1936 M-66 on shotei.com
Size: ohosoban, approx. 6.75 " x 15"
Condition: VG, no flaws of note
Impression: Fine, excellent registration, solid key lines and bleed through to verso
Color: Fine, strong color and bleed through to verso
Rarely seen horizontal ohosoban of silhouetted laborers pulling a boat against the current of the Fuji River, with Mt. Fuji in the distance basking in the light of a full moon. |
|
| 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.
|
|
