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| Artist: | Torii Kotondo (1900-1976) — 鳥居言人 |
| Title: | Summer Geisha- Natsuko — 夏妓 |
| Series: | |
| Date of first edition?: | 1934 |
| Publisher (first edition)?: | Ikeda — 池田 |
| 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: | 45637 |
| Notes (first edition)?: |
Torii Kotondo (1900-1976)
Title Natsuko - Geisha in summer style
Publisher Ikeda
Dimensions 17.5 x 11.5
Dated 1934 (confirmed. Month not yet confirmed).
Limited edition of only 100 prints, after which the blocks were destroyed.
Scene number 12 among 12 Ikeda published scenes. There are a lot of prints of this scene that are unnumbered, i.e., they do not have a hand-written limited edition number written in the verso cartouche. In fact, I have not seen even a single example that has the edition number.
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:
Torii Kotondo, 1900-1976
Summer Geisha
(Natsuko)
a profile bust portrait of a beauty holding a folding fan against a clear blue ground; with karazuri ('blind printing') on her collar and obi; embellished with a dusting of mica; signed Kotondo ga with red square artist's seal unread, the title, Natsuko, embossed on the bottom margin; with publisher's printed limited edition cartouche on verso, Ikeda hanken shoyu, hyuku mai kagiri zeppan, -kai dai -go (Ikeda, copyright; edition limited to 100, - print, - number), undated, ca. 1934
dai oban tate-e 17 5/8 by 11 3/8 in., 44.9 by 29
After producing six prints with the publishers Sakai and Kawaguchi in 1929, and three prints with Kawaguchi alone (one at the end of 1929 and then two more in 1930), Kotondo published an additional twelve prints with the publisher Ikeda, the first in 1931 and the last two in 1934. This print, Summer Geisha, released in 1934, was the 12th print published with Ikeda and the last full-sized bijin print produced by Kotondo. Within five years Kotondo had produced a total of twenty-one bijin prints, most of which easily rank among the finest compositions and high-quality productions in the genre of shin-hanga.
References:
Kato, Junzo, comp., Kindai Nihon hanga taikei, 1975-76, Vol. III, pl. 110
Reigle Newland, Amy, and Hamanaka Shinji, The Female Image, 2000, pl. 187 |
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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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