The artworks displayed on JAODB are not for sale
 |  |
 |
 |
| Notes (1st edition) | |||
| Publisher (this edition): | Not Set | Not Set | Not Set |
| Date of this item: | 1923 | 1923 | 1923 |
| Notes (this edition) These notes were written by the original owner/seller/auctioner of the item and may be inaccurate.: | This print is authentic, not restrike or reproduction. I guarantee it. This is an genuine original Japanese woodblock print by great shin-hanga artist Shima Seien(1892-1970) titled "Heroine Yugiri ". Created on 1923. From supplement of “Dai Chikamatsu Zenshu” (The completeWorks of Chikamatsu). The heroine Yugiri in the play “Yugiri Awa no Naruto”. This print is known as the title “The Departed Spirit of a Courtesan”. Shima Seien was one of the very few woman artists in prewar Japan. This print reprodused in “The Female Image; 20th Century Prints of Japanese Beauties”, Hotei, Leiden, 2000, pg.97. No foxing, toning, folds or creases. The print is not trimmed or setdown. Excellent impression, colors and registrations. Signed by artist Seien. Dai-oban size 17.9" x 11.6" (45.5cm x 29.5cm). |
Shin Hanga: The Departed Spirit of a Courtesan Artist: Shima Seien Format: Dai Oban tate-e: 18" x 11.25" Subject: From the same set as the two previous lots, the work illustrated here, 'The Departed Spirit of a Courtesan', is, according to records in the Muller collection, one of twelve prints in an untitled series. As a whole, the series does not appear to have a unified theme, and Seien's impressionistic, almost surrealistic, rendition of the lost soul of a Courtesan is strikingly different from much of her painting. It reveals, nevertheless, her great stylistic debt to Tsunetomi, especially in the use of colors and the treatment of the facial features. Publisher: Hand-printed by Nishimura Kumakichi Date: c. 1923 Condition: Fine colors. Full size with large margins (not fully shown in scanned image). Some very light foxing. Minor marks and creases. Generally fine state of preservation. Impression: Fine impression with extensive gauffrage and strong woodgrain visible |
Japanese Woodblock Print of a Ghost by Shima Seien (1893-1970). This superb image is one one of the most striking images in Japanese 20th. Century woodblock art. In the seminal work "The New Wave. 20th. Century Japanese prints from the Robert O. Muller Collection" London 1993, the print with accompanying text is accorded a whole page to itself (Pl. 208). We have reproduced the page and suggest viewers read the text. It is truly a remarkable and haunting image of "the departed spirit of a courtesan". The mauve scarf concealing part of the head in the centre of the print is a daring, original and wholly successful device which allows the red-rimmed eyes to peer around the scarf at the viewer. It comes as no surprise that this outstanding woman artist was a pupil of Kitano Tsunetomi. Designer of the celebrated "Heron Maiden" print of 1925 which is also a design classic. As with several other prints we are currently listing, the series of which this print is part, is now known to be "Dai Chikamatsu Zenshu" (The Great Collection of the Works of Chikamatsu) published around 1923. The size is 17 1/8 x 11 1/2 ins (43.5 x 29 cms). I bought it many years ago in a shabby little booksellers in Kyoto where is appeared to have been lying in the bargain tray for some time! Consequently the condition is not of the best! As can be clearly seen in the photos the lower 4 ins. Is dust soiled and there are a number of foxing spots around the lower centre of the image. Apart from this and a few slight creases in the paper, it is in sound condition. It is a fine impression with no fading. The details of the printer and block cutter are difficult to see in the photo being printed in very light pigment so as not to fight the design. Please note that this is an original printing NOT a facsimile or reprint. |