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Vapour- Yuge — 湯ゲ
by Torii Kotondo (1900-1976)

Original caretaker of this artwork: Bonhams

	Artist:	Torii Kotondo (1900-1976) — 鳥居言人
	Title:	Vapour- Yuge — 湯ゲ
	Series:
	Date of first edition?:	1929/10
	Publisher (first edition)?:	Sakai and Kawaguchi — 酒井川口
	Publisher (this edition)?:	Sakai and Kawaguchi — 酒井川口
	Medium (first edition):	Woodblock
	Medium (this edition):	Woodblock
	Format (first edition):	Large Oban
	Format (this edition):	Oban
	DB artwork code:	48134
	Notes (first edition)?:	Artist Torii Kotondo Title "Yuge" (Vapour) Medium Original Limited Edition Japanese Woodblock Print Editions: 200 (S&K paper seal), 300 (S&K embossed seal), ?? (Kawaguchi). Date 1929 October Publisher Sakai and Kawaguchi Reference No Female Image # 171; The New Wave #263 Size 18 x 11 -3/4 " (sheet) Dimensions 18.125 x 11.875 Notes: Embossed title in the lower margin reads: "Yuge".
	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) One woodblock print Entitled Yuge (Vapor) [embossed in bottom margin], dated October 1929, signed Kotondo ga, sealed Kotondo, left margin with embossed joint publishers' seal of Sakai and Kawaguchi, edition label to reverse reads Gaikoku iki nihyaku mai kagiri zeppan, dai-hyaku-nijusanban (No. 123 of limited edition of 200 for export) and signed in ink Torii Kotondo, applied with a circular red approval seal Kotondo - very good impression and color, slightly toned, minor foxing, archival tape to reverse top, pencil notation to reverse bottom margin, otherwise very good condition 18 1/8 x 11 3/4in (46.2 x 29.8cm) Footnotes For other impressions, see Shinji Hamanaka and Amy Reigle Newland, The Female Image: 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties, Amsterdam, Hotei, 2000, p, 128, fig. 171, and Amy Reigle Stephens, Hiromi Okamoto and others, The New Wave: Twentieth-Century Japanese Prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection, London and Leiden, Bamboo and Hotei, 1993, p. 198, fig. 263. Another impression of this print is published in Andreas Marks, Chiaki Ajioka and others, Seven Master: 20th-century Japanese woodblock prints form the Wells Collection, Minneapolis, Minnesota : Minneapolis Institute of Arts, 2015, p. 196, no.139.
	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.